BRUSSELS (MNI) – The European Commission on Monday said it wants to
see Greece remain in the Eurozone but that the country must implement
the fiscal and structural reforms it has agreed to in return for aid
from fellow Eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund.

“We continue to hope and expect that Greece will respect the
commitments that it has entered into under the second economic
adjustment programme, we see its future in the Eurozone and we want
Greece to remain in the euro,” a spokesman for the Commission said. “We
believe, and the programme reflects that, that this is the best solution
for Greece, the Greek people and for Europe as a whole.”

“We hope that Greece remains in the euro, we wish it to be possible
to remain in the euro, but it is of course important that it live up to
and respect the commitments it has entered into,” the spokesman said.

He said it was now up to Greece, where political momentum is
building against the EU-IMF bailout, to decide its future. His comments
echo those made by German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble last week
that Europe could not force Greece to remain in the Eurozone.

Last week a senior EU official suggested that the Eurozone
governments might be prepared to revisit some minor aspects of the
bailout programme but that the programme itself was not up for
renegotiation.

Eurozone ministers are to discuss the situation in Greece at a
meeting in Brussels this evening where they will also discuss
developments in Spain.

Concerned about Greece’s commitment to reforms, Germany, the
Netherlands and Finland last week mulled delaying aid payments to the
debt-stricken country.

Over the weekend, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso
was quoted in an interview on Italian television saying that “if a
member of a club – I don’t want to talk about a particular country – but
if a member of a club does not want to respect the rules, then it’s
better that it leave the club.”

–Brussels newsroom: +324-9522-8374; pkoh@marketnews.com

[TOPICS: M$X$$$,M$Y$$$,MGX$$$,M$$CR$,MT$$$$,M$S$$$]