By the day after tomorrow the troika will return to Athens. This will restart the mission that the EU, IMF and ECB inspectors had suspended at the beginning of the month due to Greece's failure to comply with the fiscal commitments undertaken in exchange for international aid. It was announced by Jean Claude Junker.
From Strasbourg, the President of the Eurogroup also stressed that "exiting the Eurozone is not a solution" to improve Greece's fortunes. A possible abandonment of the single currency "would not solve the problem, but would aggravate it both for the Greek country and for the monetary area as a whole".
If Europe intends to recover, it must instead "attribute more powers in matters of economic and monetary affairs to the European Commission". Furthermore, according to Junker, "the responsible commissioner should have precise responsibilities, without being subjected to constraints and obstacles every time he has to intervene". In any case, it is clear that "the current crisis will not emerge without an adequate policy for economic growth capable of creating jobs".
Finally, the skirmishes with Washington. In response to the tirade that came directly from US President Barack Obama, who defined the Eurozone as "too slow" in tackling the debt crisis, Junker reiterated that "lessons from overseas" should not be accepted. At the origin of the crisis, in fact, there are not “Greek or Irish workers. They are not the ones who created the Lehman Brothers case, regardless of what is claimed” in the United States.
