IN PROGRESS Live – Eurozone leaders reach Greece deal
Eurozone leaders have reached an €82bn-€86bn deal on a Greek bailout after all-night talks in Brussels. The timetable is for the Greek parliament to pass a slew of legislation by Wednesday, the deal will then be put to some eurozone parliaments - notably Germany's Bundestag - and then negotiations will begin with creditor institutions over the exact size of the bailout .
3:36pm Ferdinando Giugliano
Do you think Athens has capitulated by accepting a third rescue package with stringent conditions? Think again, says Gideon Rachman, the FT's Chief International Affairs Commentator. In this column, he argues it was Berlin who backed down as it put yet more taxpayers' money at risk, in return for dubious promises of economic reform. Gideon concludes that relations between Germany and the rest of the eurozone are getting progressively worse.
As for the Germans, at the latest summit, they were clearly flirting with “Grexit” — the idea of forcing Greece out of the eurozone. They drew back after numerous warnings, such as the one issued by the foreign minister of Luxembourg, that such a course of action would be “fatal for Germany’s reputation in the EU and the world”. Rather than risk such an outcome, the German government has agreed to yet another bailout for Greece. Yet, in reality, the euro is already poisoning Germany’s attitude towards Europe and Europe’s attitude towards Germany.
3:26pm John Aglionby
Henry Foy in Athens reports that getting Bratislava's blessing may be a big sticking point.
Slovakia's finance minister Peter Kazimir has been one of the most vocal of the eurozone hawks, and wrote in an opinion piece for the FT last week that a Greek exit from the eurozone would not be the worst outcome, if it avoided turning "the whole of the eurozone into a zombie state."
And Prime Minister Robert Fico told the FT as far back as February that he was against further aid for Athens.
“This is a red line for us. It would be impossible to explain to the public that ‘poor’ Slovakia . . . should compensate Greece,” Mr Fico said. “To explain to people that we have to give money to Greece for their salaries and pensions? Impossible. Impossible.”
Mr Fico will know the pitfalls of trying to get approval for a deal. In 2011, furore in the Slovakian parliament over a previous financial aid package for Athens made Bratislava the last capital to approve it, held up the entire process, and saw the government collapse, paving the way for Mr Fico's ascendency.
3:14pm John Aglionby
As to which countries' parliaments will get a say on the deal - most likely later this week - it's not quite as simple as a simple list, alas.
A senior eurozone official said legislators in Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Austria, Slovakia, Estonia will all vote, but added that in some countries - such as Germany - the vote is binding, while in others - such as the Netherlands - it is merely advisory.
In Ireland the government decides if parliament gets to vote.
In Slovenia, the agreement will not have to be voted on if the contribution to any package does not exceed the funds already committed to the ESM, but there would be vote if debt restructuring is in the agreement. This also applies to Malta.
3:05pm John Aglionby
Capital markets editor Ralph Atkins has discussed with Richard McGuire, head of rate strategy at Rabobank,why worries over the sustainability of Greek debt remain.
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