Asked about the yesterday’s announcement by the Cypriot government that it informed on Monday the appropriate European Authorities of its decision to submit to euro area member states a request for financial assistance from the EFSF/ESM, Altafaj said that this is a classical situation, noting that there has been a request to the Chairman of Eurogroup last night.
He noted that the Chairman produced a communication and the European Commission, being a member of the Eurogroup, fully supports Jean Claude Juncker`s statement.
He added that work will begin with a mandate from Eurogroup to the Commission and the Central Bank to meet Nicosia as a troika to discuss the terms of financial assistance. At the same time, he added, they will discuss elements of a programme that will reflect the conditions to this financial assistance.
Asked when there will be a Eurogroup meeting, he said that Juncker is responsible for organising its work, recalling that a full meeting will take place on the 9th of July.
But he noted that when it was deemed necessary in the past, Ministers have spoken on the telephone and taken the appropriate decisions.
Asked whether the terms Spain had secured will apply to Cyprus as well, he said that there are no terms for Cyprus yet.
“This has to be discussed by the Eurogroup. There is a request, it has to be examined by the Eurogroup” he said.
Invited to define the synthesis of the Troika for Cyprus, he pointed out that if Cyprus goes towards a fully fledged programme, which covers not only the financial sector but also the fiscal aspects, then the precedent which exists for the other countries is that the Troika is composed by the Commission, the ECB, and the IMF.
“But the terms have to be discussed by the Eurogroup”, he reiterated.
He noted that Cyprus` request is addressed to Juncker for an EFSF or ESM assistance. So, he added, we have to discuss with the European partners in the Euro area.
Replying to a comment that the case of Cyprus is different than that of Spain, he said the problems faced by Cyprus are of multiple nature and he referred journalists to the country specific recommendations published by the Commission on 30 May and adopted by ECOFIN last Friday to elaborate more on these challenges.