The new Greek government’s main objective is to "leave behind this self-perpetuating crisis," implement sweeping reforms in public administration as well as put an end to tax evasion and black marketeering, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said from Brussels yesterday, where he laid out his government’s proposals for a bridging agreement with the eurozone, a day after Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis did so at the Eurogroup in Brussels.

At a late night press conference at the end of an informal European Council meeting – the first for the new Greek premier - that dealt mostly with issues of terrorism, Tsipras said that the Greek government had the opportunity to present its positions at two meetings of the last few days, the Eurogroup (11.02) and the European leaders’ summit (12.02).

"We leave today having made some significant steps," said Tsipras, adding that the technical teams of Greece and its credit partners would  begin work today, and that the government supported a bridge programme leading to a new agreement that would include a contract for growth and social cohesion. It would also include a clause on reducing the debt, in order to give the country the margin to return to growth.

On his part, Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem tweeted "[We] agreed today to ask the institutions to engage with the Greek authorities to start work on a technical assessment of the common ground between the current program and the Greek government’s plans." This, he said, would pave the way for crucial talks between eurozone finance ministers on Monday (16.02).

See also Consilium Europa Newsroom: National Briefing Greece [video in Greek part 2, 12.02]