Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-09-15

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Athens Declaration to form basis of Greek positions in Bratislava, gov't sources say

[02] Government is close to reaching deal with institutions on NPLs, says Economy minister

[03] Bratislava summit should send message of unity and solidarity, German minister tells ANA

[01] Athens Declaration to form basis of Greek positions in Bratislava, gov't sources say

In statements about the Mediterranean leaders' meeting last week, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said that the aim of the meeting was to arrive at a joint and constructive contribution to the dialogue that was now beginning about the future of Europe, so that the Bratislava summit could serve as "democratic Europe's reply to populism, xenophobia and racism".

The government's impression is that all the countries that signed the Athens Declaration will use it as the basis of their intervention in Bratislava, the sources added, noting that this would be positive since a joint stance will strengthen the specific agenda within the meeting. Also welcomed by the government side were the statements made by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in his annual speech, which they expect will also help to strengthen the specific agenda.

The Greek side again noted that the aim of the Athens meeting was not to create division or another grouping within the EU, but to contribute positively to setting an agenda. The prime minister also presented this point of view in his talk with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the sources added.

Greek positions at Bratislava will include steps to enhance defence of the EU's external borders and internal security, with an upgraded foreign policy and international role for the EU, solidarity in dealing with the refugee crisis and a fair distribution of the burden between the EU member-states, as well as steps to set up an EU border and coast guard and cooperate with third countries.

The refugee issue dominated the prime minister's discussion with Merkel, with agreement on the need to reinforce the presence of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) with additional staff and speed up relocation procedures.

Finally, on the economic front, there seems to be movement toward the positions outlined in the Athens Declaration, calling for more emphasis on growth, social cohesion and greater flexibility in implementing the Stability and Growth Pact, as reflected in Juncker's speech, the sources said.

[02] Government is close to reaching deal with institutions on NPLs, says Economy minister

"The climate was very positive and we're very close to completing talks on the extrajudicial [settlement] mechanism, while only a few secondary technical issues remain open," he said, adding the procedure will concern all businesses, irrespective of size.

Earlier, a senior oficial of the Economy ministry said the government is expected to complete a draft bill on the out-of-court settlement of NPLs by the end of the month. The bill will foresee, on the one hand, the extrajudicial mechanism for the settlement of all business debts to banks, pension funds and the taxman and on the other, changes in the bankruptcy code aimed at accelerating bankruptcy procedures.

The senior official said the bill is difficult to complete but an agreement is close, adding that a new meeting is scheduled between the government and the institutions on Friday. Once the committee completes the draft bill, it will be sent to the institutions to be reviewed and discussed at length when they return to Athens for the second review.

The bill will state that committees will be set up with the participation of Greece's creditors which, based on the recommendation of special reviewers, will draft a plan for the extrajudicial settlement of debts, which will be ratified by judges.

In the case of large companies with high debts, the proposals to the committees will be made by major audit firms and not by individual evaluators.

[03] Bratislava summit should send message of unity and solidarity, German minister tells ANA

"Bratislava should send one signal [of] unity, solidarity and cohesion. This is the mutual understanding of the political leaders of the EU but we shouldn't overestimate the Bratislava meeting because it is just one step," he said.

"The most important step is that political leaders deliver as soon as possible. We have to speed up our measures in combatting the problems in the EU," he added.

Asked how unified the EU on issues such as migration, Roth said: "I'm fully convinced that at the end, the Brexit made very clear that nationalistic and populist solutions are definitely not solutions," he said.

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