German MPs call for Greece to forgo scheduled assumption of EU presidency
Two German MPs have called for Greece to forgo its scheduled assumption on January 1 2014 of the European Union’s rotating presidency, claiming that the debt-ridden country should not be burdened with the financial cost of the task, an estimated 100 million euros.
Klaus-Peter Willsch, of the Christian Democratic Union, the party led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, told the mass circulation Bild that Greece should ask the European Commission to put off its assumption of the bloc’s rotating presidency otherwise the country might need a further loan package to cover it costs.
Frank Schaeffler of the liberal Free Democratic Party said Greece should «voluntarily withdraw from the presidency.»
