The Lisbon Treaty, which entered into effect in December 2009, introduced for the first time a provision for exodus from the EU but, on the contrary, there is no provision in the Treaty for leaving the single currency.
"Greece's place is in the eurozone, and the facilities exist. The agreements were reached so that this will continue to be the reality", spokeswoman Karolina Kottova said. However, the discussions in Cannes are being conducted at the highest level, she noted, indirectly leaving open the possibility of the European leaders deciding otherwise.
Commission spokesman for monetary and economic affairs Amadeu Altafaj, on his part, confirmed rumours that the disbursement of the €8 billion sixth tranche of the €110 billion EU-IMF bailout loan to Greece will depend on Greece's fulfilment of all the commitments it has made at the latest European summit in Brussels. "There is a eurozone political decision on the conditions for the disbursement of the sixth tranche, which is linked with the fulfilment of all the commitments that Greece has signed", Altafaj said.
"Clearly, this cannot occur without there being certainty on the intention of the Greek authorities to fulfil the commitments they undertook just a few days ago", Altafaj continued, noting that Greek prime minister George Papandreou "is included among the leaders who signed the agreements of October 27" during the summit on supporting the euro and Greece.
Eurozone officials reiterated that regardless of any political developments in Greece, ratifying the October 27 agreement was a precondition for release of the sixth tranche of a loan to Greece and for implementing a new lending programme.
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