BRUSSELS (MNI) – The finance ministers of Germany and France on
Monday sought to dispel the notion that the Eurozone’s two largest
economies were no longer able to cooperate harmoniously since the
election of Socialist President Francois Hollande earlier this year.

At a press conference on the margins of the meeting of European
Union finance ministers, Wolfgang Schaeuble and Pierre Moscovici spoke
of “complete accord,” “close cooperation” and “total trust” as being the
defining characteristics of the Franco-German relationship.

The two ministers stressed there was no divide on Greece, with
Moscovici saying that Athens deserved a response from its European
partners and that the Eurogroup’s message on Monday was “positive.”

He said finance ministers were close to an agreement to release
the E31.5 billion aid tranche that Greece is expecting and that a
formal deal could be reached next week.

Schaeuble said that there was no talk at the Eurogroup meeting of
boosting the level of aid to Greece, but he indicated that there was
room to help Athens by adjusting interest rates and debt maturities.

He said he had “great respect” for the “difficult decisions” faced
by Greece, especially given the current difficult economic situation for
Europe and the rest of the world.

Schaeuble ruled out a new haircut for Greece’s private creditors
and implied that there was little hope that the European Central Bank
would take a haircut on its Greek sovereign debt holdings.

He called for a “reliable mechanism” to ensure Greek debt
sustainability and suggested that the year 2020 as a target to achieve
this might be a bit “too ambitious.”

But he added that Greece should not be given the impression that it
had any other option than to continue down its difficult path of
structural reform and fiscal consolidation.

Schaeuble said there was no discussion at the Eurogroup meeting of
the succession to President Jean-Claude Juncker, who indicated again on
Monday his desire to step down at the beginning of next year.

–Frankfurt bureau tel: +49-69-720-142. Email: dbarwick@mni-news.com

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