The Eurogroup concluded yesterday (1.04) with positive messages for Greece. Addressing a news conference after talks with eurozone finance ministers, President Jeroen Dijsselbloem said that the Eurogroup welcomes the conclusion of the fourth review mission under the second macroeconomic adjustment programme for the country.

“The Eurogroup reiterates its appreciation for the efforts made by the Greek citizens and notes with satisfaction that the fiscal performance is on track to exceed the programme targets in 2013 and meet them in 2014, allowing Greece to provide additional financing for debt servicing and to undertake some one-off spending in 2014 to bolster social cohesion.

Good progress is also being made on structural reforms.”  During the ECOFIN meeting that followed the Eurogroup, Stournaras confirmed that the government is preparing to return to international bond markets.

This morning, Finance Minister Yiannis Stournaras and ECOFIN President expressed satisfaction with the Eurogroup’s decision on Greece. "As far as Greece is concerned, I am very satisfied. Seven countries should now turn to their parliaments for the relevant significant decisions. Eurogroup has already given its approval so that all those parliamentary procedures can go ahead and the next tranches can be disbursed."

See also: Informal Eurogroup [video], & Statement on Greece Athens (1.04.2014)

Today is the second day of the informal Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN) meeting taking place at Zappeio Megaron Conference Centre in Athens. Today’s working session was dedicated to the European Banking Regulatory Framework Reform. The first topic was the Banking Structure Reform based on the presentation of the Commission’s proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council on structural measures improving the resilience of EU credit institutions.

Furthermore, Ministers discussed the latest developments on Banking Union, an underlying priority for the Greek EU Presidency, because of its importance as a prerequisite for strengthening trust and increasing liquidity in the European economy, as well as safeguarding financial stability in Europe. The Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) state of play, as well as the state of play of Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) implementation presented by the Chair of the SSM Supervisory Board were on the agenda of discussions.

During the press conference held after the Eurogroup meeting today, Stournaras said that "A close examination of the legislative initiative will be starting under the Greek presidency, with meetings planned at working – party level, but the work will, of course, definitely go well beyond the current semester, and the Italian presidency will inherit it."

Press conference video: Statements of Finance Minister Yiannis Stournaras, Part 1 (2.04.2014)