Details of the deal negotiated with Greece have just been released in a full statement by the EU.
The key parts are as follows:
- €50bn asset fund will be formed; Greece will have to transfer assets that will then be privatised under European supervision. It will be managed by Greeks.
- The VAT system will be streamlines and the tax base widened, to increase revenue
- Upfront measures will be brought in to improve long-term sustainability of the pension system, as part of a comprehensive pension reform programme.
- Alexis Tsipras also managed to get debt restructuring into the deal, a key point that he aimed to see into the agreement.
- Greece will have to bring in Sunday trading hours, as part of reforms designed to boost the economy.
Esentially, the deal reached is a “drastic austerity program”, perhaps worse than that offered before the Greek referendum. The country that has already seen years of tough austerity measures, and its population voted against them just last weekend. Unsurprisingly, the Greek people are unhappy with the deal, arguing that Tsipras circumvented democracy by agreeing to a proposal the people wholeheartedly disagreed with.
Syriza’s UK spokesperson, London based academic Marina Prentoulis has given this reaction to the deal: “We have ten thousand people committing suicide for economic problems; we have 60% of the young people unemployed, 27% of the overall population unemployed, the debt growing and the Greek economy being reduced by one fourth.
“Now, with these measures, I’m really worried what will happen. It has been clear that for political reasons they have been pressured into a very difficult deal and across Europe, what everybody says is that we’re talking about a coup.”
However, the deal is not set in stone yet; all key parts of the deal must still be passed through the Greek parliament before they can be put into effect.
