There is still work to be done for the fulfillment of the prior actions, said European Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici, adding that while there has been some progress, “we would have liked to see some more”.
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Athens has committed to deliver on the reforms by the end of the month.
Greece’s global creditors signed an agreement with Athens last summer, approving a third bailout package worth about 86 billion euros ($97.3 billion) in exchange for highly unpopular austerity reforms, including pension cuts and tax hikes.
“Our message is not for there to be separate rules for Mediterranean countries, but there to be clear rules for the European Union”.
Conditions demanded by the European Union include cutting public spending, deregulating the energy market, raising the price of medicines and putting key assets into a “privatisation fund” outside government control, which would be responsible for selling them.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was not optimistic over the impact of the gathering.
“They did a lot, but a lot of homework is ahead of them”, he said.
At a euro zone finance ministers’ meeting in Bratislava earlier on Friday, lenders called on Greece to stay on track to meet its obligations on reforms before getting any new aid money.
Greece is due to fulfil 15 reforms, including privatisation plans and energy sector changes, in September to get the final 2.8 billion euros available in this tranche.
“Southern countries have had several difficulties to tackle, notably on migration and refugees and so we have decided that we will bring our own thoughts and conclusions to Bratislava on this”, Hollande told a joint news conference after the summit in the Zappeion Hall, where the ceremony marking Greece’s entry in the European Community was held in 1979.
Greece has already received two bailouts in 2010 and 2012, worth a total of Euro 240 billion (USD 272 billion) from its creditors following the economic crisis in the Southeast European country back in 2009.
In regard to the debt, Dijsselbloem said that no detailed discussions had taken place, and set out the timetable leading up to a decision regarding the involvement of the International Monetary Fund, which he said was “particularly cooperative now”.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras hosted leaders of Europe’s Mediterranean countries Friday as his government rejected a return to European Union immigration rules that existed before last year’s crisis.
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“It is a meeting of party leaders, I won’t comment”.
