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Wednesday 2 December 2020
Varoufakis served as the Greek Finance Minister from January to July 2015.
Donohoe is in Berlin for his first meeting as President of the Eurogroup.
Experts say that increased Irish influence in Europe could come at a cost.
Donohoe faced opposition from finance ministers in Spain and Luxembourg for the Eurogroup presidency.
Donohoe said it would be a “tremendous honour” to lead the Eurogroup through the challenges ahead.
Greece has called the deadline “absurd”.
Eurogroup ministers met earlier this week on the topic, but only agreed on general principles.
The Minister for Finance is in Brussels for a Eurogroup meeting, who said Ireland is “proof” that austerity packages ‘deliver results’.
The Eurogroup President made the comments to a Greek newspaper ahead of the country’s draft budget announcement today.
Michael Noonan is joining his eurozone counterparts in Brussels later today.
Minister Michael Noonan will travel to the Hague today to discuss Ireland’s bailout exit with Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem.
The finance minister says the world recognises that Ireland’s debts are sustainable, but he won’t give up on help.
All 27 EU finance ministers have now given a green light to extending the maturity of Ireland’s bailout loans by seven years.
5 minutes, 5 stories, 5 o’clock…
Ministers will discuss extending the repayment dates of Ireland’s loans, and the aftermath of the Cyprus bailout catastrophe.
Proposals seen by Reuters, to be put to ministers in Dublin this weekend, would see extra time given for Ireland and Portugal to repay.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem had earlier said the Cyprus template – where depositors and bondholders are hit before governments – is the new model for how troubled banks will be handled. He has since clarified the remarks.
Bailouts! Deposit levies! Leaving the euro? It’s all been happening in the last ten days.
The Department of Finance says the move will make it easier for Ireland to emerge from the bailout programme.
Eurozone finance ministers will today discuss the key question of whether the Euro’s bailout fund will chip in to Ireland’s costs.
Michael Noonan will chair tomorrow’s meeting of EU finance ministers; today’s Eurogroup meeting will elect a new head.
The deal will see some people get only a third of their money back – but others will get three times their investment.
IMF chief Christine Lagarde visibly disagreed with Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker at a press confernece last night.
“Surely you don’t expect me to tell what questions I had for the Chancellor, or what questions the Chancellor had for me.”
Francois Hollande echoes Angela Merkel’s comments – saying Ireland differs from other countries because the bailout was forced on us.
Enda Kenny and Angela Merkel issue a joint statement describing Ireland as “a special case” financially.
“It will not be a retroactive direct capitalisation. If recapitalisation is possible, it will come for the future.”
The German chancellor tells a news conference there “will not be any retroactive direct recapitalisation”. That’s us told.
Once discussions on the promissory note issue has been concluded, Ireland could get a more lenient deal – but it may be some time.
Michael Noonan will meet his counterparts from around Europe in Cyprus today, hoping to make progress on shedding Ireland’s bank debts.
There is speculation that the eurozone bailout fund and the ECB could buy-up Spanish bonds in a bid to alleviate fears about the single currency.
European ministers have also rubber-stamped an initial €30billion bailout for Spain.
This is Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker at summit of EU leaders in Brussels. Maybe he knows something we don’t…
The minister for finance will meet his Eurozone counterparts this evening, and be joined by the non-euro ministers tomorrow.
Reuters says officials have discussed limits on ATM withdrawals, border checks and capital controls if Greece goes.
But will Ireland have to contribute to the bailout?
Spain is braced to become the fourth eurozone country to ask for assistance – but its bailout will not come with a programme for austerity.
A group of EU finance advisors agreed to issue the instruction on Monday, according to Reuters.
Both Michael Noonan and Vitor Gaspar were tough on their Greek counterpart last week over Athens’s failure to follow its bailout programme.
Attending a summit in Brussels, Michael Noonan says it is “very important that the eurozone stays intact”.
THE SHOPS ARE back, festive music is playing and the weather is going to get absolutely Baltic this week. Even though it’s been a strange year, you’d know Christmas is on the way.
But although it’s a time for giving and the shops are open again, the usual scenes of charity fundraisers on the streets will likely be less frequent due to public health concerns.
Many people make a point of putting some money, food or other items away to make a donation to a particular cause around this time of year, and will likely have to go a bit out of their way to do so in 2020.
Are you one of those people? This morning we want to know: Will you be giving to charity this Christmas?
Poll Results:
Share your story: voices@thejournal.ie
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