Brussels : It is still possible for Greece and its creditors to hammer out an agreement on the Greek debt issue even after Greek voters overwhelmingly rejected the creditors’ offer in a referendum on Sunday, a senior European Commission (EC) official said.
“EC takes note of the referendum’s result,” said Valdis Dombrovskis, EC’s vice-president in charge of the euro and social dialogue, adding that the ‘No’ result widened the gap between Greece and the other eurozone countries.
“In the eurozone, we have 19 democracies; we need a solution acceptable to all. ‘No’ makes this more difficult,” he told reporters on Monday.
“If all sides work seriously, it’s possible to find an agreement even in this very complicated situation,” the vice-president added.
Dombrovskis hinted that the EC was ready to renegotiate over the Greece debt issue, according to Xinhua news agency.
“The commission is ready to continue its work with Greece but to be clear; the commission cannot negotiate a new programme without the mandate of the Eurogroup,” he said.
Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem said late on Sunday the Eurogroup would convene on Tuesday to discuss the Greece situation.
Meanwhile, Dombrovskis tried to give the assurance that the stability of the euro area was not in question, saying the euro area authorities stood ready to do whatever necessary to ensure financial stability of the bloc.
“We have everything we need to manage this situation,” he said, mentioning the bank union to ensure the stability of the financial sector, the European Financial Stability mechanism to help the most vulnerable economies, a strong fiscal economic governance in the bloc, the European Central Bank to ensure stability and the European Court of Justice’s recent confirmation for outright monetary transactions.