Germany
Signals It’s Open to a Greek Referendum on Bailout Program
Calling
a referendum could be a risky move for both the Athens government and
the rest of the eurozone
By GABRIELE
STEINHAUSER and MATTHEW DALTON
Updated May 11, 2015
11:27 a.m. ET /
http://www.wsj.com/articles/germany-shows-openness-toward-greek-referendum-on-bailout-program-1431347202
BRUSSELS—A
referendum on its international bailout program may be a good idea
for Greece, Germany’s finance minister said Monday, underlining
doubts among Greece’s creditors about the government’s ability to
agree on divisive overhauls without endorsement by voters.
Calling a referendum
on the bailout—something that eurozone politicians have until now
been loath to discuss—would be a risky move for both the government
in Athens and the rest of the eurozone, adding further
unpredictability to a tense situation. A negative vote would likely
herald Greece’s exit from the eurozone.
WSJ’s Matthew
Dalton joins MoneyBeat and reports Germany’s finance minister has
indicated there may be support for a referendum on a bailout program
for Greece. Photo: Getty
“If the Greek
government feels it should hold a referendum, then it should hold a
referendum. That may even be a right measure to ask the Greek people
to decide whether they are ready to accept what is necessary or
whether they want the alternative,” Wolfgang Schäuble said as he
arrived for a meeting with his eurozone counterparts in Brussels.
Greek Finance
Minister Yanis Varoufakis said after the meeting that the Greek
government isn’t currently planning to hold a referendum on its
international bailout. “At the moment that is not something that is
on the radar screen as far as we are concerned,” Mr. Varoufakis
said. However, he said a referendum could be a possible measure for
the Greek government win democratic support for such a plan.
Several of the
overhaul measures demanded by Greece’s international
creditors—including pension cuts and new laws that make it easier
to lay off workers—clash with the promises the new left-wing
government made when it was elected in January. A referendum could
give Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras an opening to move ahead with
austerity measures that are opposed by many of his more hard-line
lawmakers.
It would also carry
risks. Around three quarters of Greeks consistently tell pollsters
they want to keep the euro, but it is less clear how they would vote
in a referendum that required them to choose austerity as the price
of the euro.
A survey by Greek
polling company Marc, published April 29, found that only 54% of
Greeks would vote “yes” in a referendum on a deal with creditors
that involved further austerity, whereas 37% would vote “no.”
Other ministers on
Monday stopped short of endorsing a popular vote. “That’s
absolutely up to national politicians,” said Jeroen Dijsselbloem,
the Dutch finance minister who presides over the meetings with his
eurozone counterparts.
Greece’s finance
minister, Yanis Varoufakis, made no mention of a referendum when he
arrived in Brussels. An agreement with the country’s creditors will
be reached in “the next few days,” Mr. Varoufakis said, repeating
a line he has been toeing for week.
Mr. Tsipras has
favored holding a referendum, particularly on reforms that his
government had previously set out as red lines. A popular vote could
help him quash talk of the country being forced into early elections
and silence party opponents accusing him of going back on promises
made to voters before January’s election.
In Athens on Monday,
officials from the leftist Syriza party were trying to figure out
whether the comments from Mr. Schäuble reflect his personal views or
those of the German government.
German officials
said Mr. Schäuble spoke for the government.
The last time a
Greek government proposed a referendum on its bailout—in the fall
of 2011—the idea was vehemently opposed by German Chancellor Angela
Merkel.
At the time, Ms.
Merkel and then French President Nicolas Sarkozy told Athens that any
referendum on measures attached to its aid program would
automatically be a vote on Greece’s euro membership. That condition
pushed the then-government to quickly scrap the plan.
If the government in
Athens decides to call a referendum, much scrutiny will go into the
exact question that will be put to voters. Eurozone policy makers
will likely push against going into too much detail on austerity
measures and instead make it clear that the poll was about Greece’s
future in the currency union.
Organizing such a
vote would also take time—a resource that is in short supply. Greek
officials have warned that they will soon run out of money, raising
doubts over several big debt repayments looming in the coming weeks.
“Every week that
talks continue we have less time for implementation and
disbursement,” said Mr. Dijsselbloem.
Talks between Greece
and its creditors have been making some progress in recent weeks, but
the two sides are far from a deal. “We know that there are
remaining gaps that are also important,” said Pierre Moscovici, the
European Union’s economics commissioner.
—Bertrand Benoit
in Berlin and Marcus Walker in Athens contributed to this article.
Write to Gabriele
Steinhauser at gabriele.steinhauser@wsj.com and Matthew Dalton at
Matthew.Dalton@wsj.com
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