Greece is running into a deadline on June 30 when it may default on its debt unless its government reaches an agreement with European Union creditors.
On Wednesday evening in Brussels, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, European Commission President Claude Juncker, the IMF, and the European Central Bank offered no hint of progress in their negotiations. Talks were scheduled to resume on Thursday.
The EU commercial media, trading as always on nationalist resentment and contempt for the Left, speculated about the future of the Euro. Tsipras played along with a couple of tweets he sent before his meeting in Brussels.
Tsipras and the SYRIZA party that brought him to power, are situated squarely with the "hard Left" along with the Front de Gauche in France and Podemos in Spain. They have no reason to compromise. If Greece goes over the edge, so do the Institutions that created the current misery. Goodbye Euro. Goodbye Austerity. Goodbye Neoliberal Economics.
If Juncker, the IMF, the European Central Bank, and their stooges in the press are able to drive a wedge into the Left, creating division, SYRIZA's support in the Greek Parliament may suddenly disappear. However, this tactic may not work. The people of Greece are radicalized. This isn't their first time at the rodeo.
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Tsipras proposed a package of measures mostly based on tax hikes, as well as increases to pension contributions both for employers and employees. |
|
Item in negotiation |
Proposed by Greece |
Proposed by European Union creditors |
Value Added Tax
VAT, a tax on consumption,
is in force throughout the
EU. The standard rate
varies from 17% in
Luxembourg to 25%
in Sweden and Denmark. |
Standard rate - 23%
Reduced rates - 13% / 6%
Some taxable items shifted
to higher rates. |
Standard rate - 23%
Reduced rates - 13% / 6%
More taxable items shifted
to higher rates. |
Revenue collection |
Promise to eliminate tax
evasion and tax
avoidance. |
Mandatory pre-payment of
corporate tax. |
Tax code |
Raise top corporate tax
rate from 26% to 29%,
with temporary
surcharge of 12% on
profits over € 500,000 |
Raise top corporate tax
rate from 26% to 28%,
with no surcharge |
Government Spending |
Cut military spending
by € 200 million |
Cut military spending
by € 400 million |
Pensions/social security |
Raise employer
contribution by 2.9%
and employee
contribution by 1%. |
Raise retiremet age to 62
(with 40 years of
contributions) or age 67. |
If these items are resolved, Greece will have adequate funding through the end of 2015.
In a recent poll, 75% of Greeks said they favored remaining in the Eurozone, rather than revert to the drachma.
Finding an external savior in Russia can't be considered an alternative. Greece voted last week with the other 27 EU members in a unanimous decision to renew the sanctions that were imposed because of the situation in Ukraine.
Love, Peace and Solidarity for the people of Greece and the Left.