Greece stays in euro

Yesterday, the Greek parliament approved the reform and austerity measures brought back from Brussels by Prime Minister Tsipras on Monday. Although Tsipras called the deal "bad in many respects", he did get a majority on his side. Within Syriza, the prime minister's party, not everyone voted for the proposals.

"Greece has to adhere to the fiscal reforms dictated by the deal," the prime minister said. "It was either an agreement or an uncontrolled bankruptcy." Of the 300 members of parliament, 229 voted for the deal, which gives the country access to 82-86 billion Euro in loans, spread out over the next three years. "I don't believe these measures will benefit the economy, but we are forced to accept them," Tsipras said during the debate. People in Athens took to the streets during the debate. The protests culminated in riots.

A few hours before, the European Commission had promised the Greeks 7 billion Euro if they would agree to the measures. With that money, Greece can pay the most pressing bills, including 4.2 billion Euro to the European Central Bank. The ECB bill is particularly important, because opening the Greek banks is a lot more difficult without ECB support. Today, an ECB decision is expected on support for the Greek banks, and the Eurogroup is also discussing further steps today.

Christine Lagarde, head of the IMF, said yesterday that the eurozone has to remit part of the debts. "That's a positive signal, and the only hope to get out of the crisis," Prime Minister Tsipras responded.

Meanwhile, there are rumblings within the EU due to the support for the Greeks. The EU wants to deploy the EFSM (European Financial Stability Mechanism) to accommodate the Greeks. This emergency fund was set up as an emergency fund for the 28 member states. The EU member states vouch for the loans provided through this emergency fund. This gives the Greek crisis a new dimension, with EU member states that don't have the Euro, saying they don't want to be guarantors.

British Prime Minister Cameron is reluctant to be dragged into a rescue plan for Euro countries, and wants guarantees that it won't cost the British taxpayer a penny, for instance. According to the official distribution, Great Britain would vouch for 15% of every loan provided under the EFSM. The Czech Republic is also against. To deploy the EFSM, 15 countries need to agree, representing 65% of the European population.