EU says it wants Greece to stay in euro
European Union leaders, advised by senior officials to prepare contingency plans in case Greece decides to quit the single currency, urged the country to stay the course on austerity and complete the reforms demanded under its bailout programme.
After nearly six hours of talks held during an informal dinner, leaders said they were committed to Greece remaining in the euro zone, but it had to stick to its side of the bargain too, a commitment that will mean a heavy cost for Greeks.
“We want Greece to stay in the euro, but we insist that Greece sticks to commitments that it has agreed to,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters after a Wednesday evening summit in Brussels dragged long into the night.
Three officials told Reuters the instruction to have plans in place for a Greek exit was agreed on Monday during a teleconference of the Euro group Working Group (EWG) – experts who work for euro zone finance ministers.
The Greek finance ministry denied there was any such agreement but Belgian Finance Minister Steven Vanackere, said: “All the contingency plans (for Greece) come back to the same thing: to be responsible as a government is to foresee even what you hope to avoid.”
Two other senior EU officials confirmed the call and its contents, saying contingency planning was only sensible.