Greece and EU agree on need for ‘reform plan’ to fix economy

Greece has agreed with its European partners that there needs to be a "national reform plan" to deal with decades-long issues of the economy, its government spokesman said on Sunday.

But he added in a wide-ranging interview on Greece’s Skai TV that the new government will not clash with the public based on orders from outside.

Greece and its euro zone partners are in difficult negotiations over demands by the new government of leftist prime minister Alexis Tsipras for an end to austerity and a renegotiation of Greece's debt.

Spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis reiterated that the government was not willing to accept a euro zone bailout if it came with the same kind of strings as in past.

“A lot has happened since last Wednesday’s Eurogroup (meeting). It was a period of continuous negotiations,” he said.

“(But) the Greek government is determined to stick to its commitment towards the public ... and not continue a programme that has the characteristics of the previous bailout agreements.”

Mr Sakellaridis also said the government would find a way for the country’s battered banking system to work in the interests of economic growth.

“We are making contact with the banking sector,” he said. “The Greek government’s (moves) will have as their goal the stability of the financial system and there are no circumstances that will have the share value of the banks as the goal.”

The move comes after the Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras yielded last week to an intensive euro zone clamour for fresh talks on his country’s bailout programme in a bid to unlock a new round of funding from international creditors.

Mr Tsipras had refused since taking office to accept the continuation of the programme, which expires on February 28th.

After a standoff with finance ministers, however, he authorised talks on Saturday with the country’s EU lenders.

The move, seen as a big political climbdown, followed an unscheduled meeting in Brussels between the Greek leader and Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch minister who chairs the group of euro zone finance ministers.

The objective is to develop a solution to the impasse between Greece and its creditors before the ministers return to the Belgian capital for more talks on Monday.

The development was seen in diplomatic circles as something of a breakthrough in the escalating row between Greece and its creditors over its funding deficit.

Officials from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund travelled to Athens for talks on Saturday.

The move comes despite Mr Tsipras’s insistence that Athens would no longer engage with the troika of lenders.

Even as officials in the troika bodies prepared for the talks, the Greek leader insisted tonight in Brussels that “the troika no longer exists”.

EU leaders want Greece to continue the current programme but Mr Tsipras is pushing for “bridging” loans without the policy conditions attached to the programme itself.

After the summit he acknowledged that both sides “need to find common ground between [the] current and bridge programme”.

Mr Tsipras struck a positive tone on his arrival in Brussels, meeting the British, Belgian and Latvian leaders before his first EU summit.

He had received short shrift in advance of the talks from many other leaders, German chancellor Angela Merkel among them.

Agencies