NEWS

EU executive publishes offer that Tsipras rejected

The European Commission, in an unusual move that underlined frustration with the Greek government, published on Sunday what it said were the last proposals creditors made to Athens before Greece broke off funding talks.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called a referendum for next Sunday urging voters to reject the offer on the table in Brussels, leading to the Eurogroup meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Saturday saying a bailout scheme was now finished.

“In the interest of transparency and for the information of the Greek people, the European Commission is publishing the latest proposals,” the EU executive said in a statement, adding that these had been agreed by itself, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, taking into account Greek proposals made throughout the past three weeks.

Noting that negotiators were working until late on Friday, it said: “The understanding of all parties involved was that this Eurogroup meeting should achieve a comprehensive deal for Greece, one that would have included not just the measures to be jointly agreed, but would also have addressed future financing needs and the sustainability of the Greek debt.”

The Eurogroup was, however, unable to approve the deal “due to the unilateral decision of the Greek authorities to abandon the process,” the Commission said in a statement accompanied by the 10-page list of “prior actions” Athens would have had to agree to take on tax and spending in order to receive funds.

[Reuters]

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