Speaking at a panel with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble hinted that Greece is not implementing the reforms it has agreed on as required by the bailout agreement.
In a panel discussing “The Future of Europe” at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, Schaeuble replied indirectly after the Greek prime minister said that “we need a stronger Europe” stressing the importance of solidarity among European Union member states.
“If we want to make Europe stronger, then we should implement what we agreed to implement. We could just say implementation, stupid,” Schaeuble replied, paraphrasing the famous Bill Clinton line, “It’s the economy, stupid!”
“Greece needs considerable structural reforms. We must all understand that next to balanced budget, we also have to have growth,” Tsipras said, while also demanding more solidarity through a “co-ordinated growth strategy.”
Tsipras pointed to the efforts Greece has made to reform the economy. “We lost 25% of our GDP and unemployment skyrocketed,” he said.
The Greek prime minister also spoke about Greece facing three crises simultaneously: the economic crisis, the refugee influx and the unrest in the wider region.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and French Prime Minister Manuel Valls were also participating in the panel. The European officials unanimously agreed that “we need more Europe.” However, there were differences in the way each one viewed the future of Europe.
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