During the negotiations between Greece and the institutions, the possibility of ‘Grexit’ was aggressively invoked both at the Eurosummit and in the Eurogroup. The discussions concluded with the participants agreeing to discard that particular scenario, but it is vital for the present phase for us to know whether the institutions issued the Greek Government with a proposal for ‘Grexit’.

The gravity of such a proposal being made to the Greek party in the negotiations depends both on the content of the proposal itself and it timing. There are also issues about how such a proposal for ‘Grexit’ is linked to the ex-post implementation of the final agreement by the Greek side and whether ‘Grexit’ means leaving the EU.
In view of the above, will the Commission say:

—     Was the Greek side officially issued by the Commission President with some Plan B in the event of exit from the eurozone? If so, what is the content of this plan and at what point in the negotiations was it presented?
—     Does there exist, in the form of a clause or in some other form, the possibility for the institutions to activate a procedure of Greek exit from the eurozone should the Greek Government fail to meet its obligations?
—     What is the institutional limit at which it is deemed that the exit from the eurozone means leaving the EU?

Answer given by Vice-President Dombrovskis on behalf of the Commission

1. Throughout the negotiations towards the new macroeconomic adjustment programme for Greece, the Commission has been and remains now in a continuous and very close contact with the Greek authorities at all levels, with the view to help ensure a successful return of Greece to financial stability, jobs and growth to prosper in the euro area.

The Commission has published the full set of documents related to the new macroeconomic programme for Greece without delay and in the spirit of transparency on 20 August 2015.

All the documents are accessible at: http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/assistance_eu_ms/greek_loan_facility/index_en.htm

2. According to Article 140(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, the Council must irrevocably fix the conversion rate at which the euro shall be substituted for the currency of the Member State concerned by unanimity of the Member States whose currency is the euro and the Member State concerned.