Multi-speed Europe

 Hardouvelis cautions against clashing with the creditors and cites the main problems Greece may face

By Sotiris Nikas and Roula Salourou

The euro hit a nine-year low against the dollar on Thursday as bearish German manufacturing data suggested the European Central Bank may soon move to expand its bond-buying programme to bolster economic recovery.

Questions of Greece exiting the euro or rescheduling its debt are not on the agenda, European Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici told Le Monde newspaper in an interview published on Wednesday.

Moscovici added that the European Commission wanted Greece to remain in the eurozone.

Minister of Justice, Robert Cazanciuc, on Tuesday stated at the CSM [Supreme Council of Magistrates] sitting that he hoped for the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism [CVM] to be a good one to ground Romania's accession to the Schengen Zone.

Photo credit: (c) Dorina MATIS / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Iceland is planning to try again to withdraw its application to join the EU, Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson has said.

"Participating in EU talks isn't really valid anymore," Gunnlaugsson said as quoted by the Reykjavík Grapevine.

By Chryssa Liaggou

A few hours after the second vote for a new president in Parliament on Tuesday, industrialists called on political parties to reach a national consensus on four key points.

Three days after his visit to Athens was completed, European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici stated in Washington that the monitoring of Greece’s economy by its international creditors should become «lighter» and less «interventionist,» with inspectors visiting only twice a year.

Menda Stoyanova, Chair of the parliamentary budget committee, has suggested that Bulgaria is unlikely to be penalized by the European Commission over the budget deficit exceeding 3% as it is a one-off case.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Aurescu said on Tuesday that as far as Romania's Schengen accession is concerned, deadlines have been successively set, but the "most prudent" approach would be to first do some "intense" work out of the public eye to accomplish this foreign policy goal and announce the results only afterwards, regardless if they are positive or negative.

Admitting Bulgaria into the EU's borderless Schengen zone is a legal problem rather than a political one, according to European Parliament President Martin Schulz.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov in Brussels on Thursday, Schulz said that when EU member states meet certain criteria, they become entitled to certain legal rights.