Agenda
Greece expects green light for bailout extension this WEEK
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National parliaments are expected to give Greece a green light this week (Photo: Martin Fisch)
Greece is set for a green light from national parliaments for a four-month extension of its bailout this week, which will allow for a last tranche of €7.2 billion to be disbursed to Athens, provided it sticks to reforms.
On Monday, the Greek government will have its reform plans evaluated by experts from the "institutions" - formerly known as the troika - the EU commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
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The result of this review will be communicated by phone to the head of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, Jeroen Dijsselbloem. If it is a thumbs up, as widely expected, national parliaments in Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Estonia can on Tuesday start procedures to approve the bailout extension.
Dijsselbloem, himself, will the same day be in the European Parliament to give MEPs some of the details of the negotiations of recent days.
General elections in Estonia on Sunday (1 March) mean that the Estonian parliament has no more plenary sittings this week. But a committee dealing with EU affairs can still meet and approve the bailout extension, which is legally sufficient for the Estonian green light.
The head of the European Investment Bank, Werner Hoyer, will give an annual report on Monday about the activities of his institution, which is key to the plan put forward by EU commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker to raise €315 billion in investments over the next three years.
The commissioner in charge of "selling" this plan, Jyrki Katainen, will continue his "roadshow" in Croatia and Spain this week.
Meanwhile, the EU commission on Wednesday is expected to table plans for the so-called energy union. Hungary has already come out against the plan, which would give the EU commission a bigger role when countries negotiate their energy deals with suppliers such as Russia.
EU council chief Donald Tusk will report to MEPs on Wednesday on his visit to Kiev and the EU summit that took place mid-February. Tusk is preparing further "steps" against Russia, as the ceasefire agreed in Minsk earlier this month has been constantly violated.
The speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, Volodymyr Grosyman, will be in the European Parliament on Tuesday to report on the latest developments on the ground. The Georgian and Moldovan prime ministers will also be in Brussels, meeting the heads of the EU institutions on Thursday.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will travel to Berlin that same day and meet both Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Joachim Gauck.
