Ministers at an informal summit in Bratislava on Friday expressed concern that the country, which was due to update the group, was falling behind schedule in its efforts.
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“The discussion with the ESM is progressing and we examine now a shift of the floating rate to a stable interest rate for a part of our debt”, the official said, without providing further details.
“They did a lot, but a lot of homework is ahead of them”, he said at the start of a two-day meeting of European finance ministers.
Austrian Finance Minister Hans Schelling remarked that delays by the Greek government in implementing the program of reforms was not a positive sign.
On Friday, euro zone finance ministers called on Greece to stay on track with reforms it must pursue under the bailout, which is worth up to 86 billion euros, ahead of a second review of the accord that is expected to start in October.
In reference to Greece, the prime minister underlined that things are improving little by little, but he considered very necessary that the European Union partners accept to alleviate the country’s debt.
Under a deal signed a year ago with euro zone countries, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Greece can receive financial assistance of up to 86 billion euros by 2018 in return for agreed reforms.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was not optimistic over the impact of the gathering. “Germany is not the only country with elections”, he said.
This is the context within which Renzi and Hollande will approach Germany, with the Italian premier riding high on the success of the openings that Merkel made towards flexibility at their meeting in Maranello at the end of last month.
The aim was to enhance coordination and cooperation and introduce a Mediterranean perspective into the European Union’s agenda to deal with joint challenges relating to migration, security and the economy, they explained.
Both Apple and Ireland, the location of Apple’s European headquarters, are appealing the ruling, but Pierre Moscovici, the EU’s economy commissioner, defended the move saying Europeans “are waiting for multinational corporations to pay their taxes as common people do”.
“The message must be heard”, he said.
Friday’s meeting was held against the backdrop of faltering growth in the bloc, a deepening migrant crisis and British plans to quit the EU.
Tsipras, an anti-austerity champion who says the fiscal straitjacket favoured by Germany will never permit weak economies such as Greece’s to recover, is also trying to swing more European Union states to his vision.
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Kazimir projected optimism nonetheless, declaring “the future is bright”.
