Monday, June 13, 2011

This week in the European Union











 EU finance ministers will on Tuesday have a dinner meeting where they are expected to discuss proposals to overhaul the EU's economic governance in order to avoid future economic crises.

The rules to date were regularly flouted by national governments and when the extent of the Greek crisis became clear, it prompted much soul-searching about how a member state could get itself into such trouble either without others noticing, or turning a blind eye.
The proposals are still being tweaked. EU parliament and member state representatives are due to further negotiate the details on Tuesday and Wednesday and EU officials are hoping to get the deal wrapped up before the summer break.
Tuesday's meeting also comes after eurozone finance ministers last week for the first time formally discussed a second bailout for heavily indebted Greece, with IMF and EU officials having made it clear that Athens cannot make the terms of its current bailout. Greece is also under increasing pressure to carry out further austerity measures as well as sell off state assets to raise funds. With richer northern member states reluctant to sign off a second loan, an external panel is expected to be set up to oversee the asset sell-off.
Greece received a €110bn bailout last year. The second bailout, which became inevitable as state debt soared to around €350bn, is expected to be over €90bn. EU leaders, who need to sign off the deal, will meet on 23-24 June for their regular summer summit in Brussels.

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