Keeping the Greeks in the EU __IS__ the asshole option.
Schaeuble's idea of a 5-year EU grexit combined with a humanitarian goodbye bailout is actually the most sensible one.
It wasn't floored during the eurozone meeting though, since that meeting was mostly the Northern Europeans finance ministries shitting on the French-backed Greek proposal.
A highly-structured 5-year Grexit would allow real economic restructuring outside of the euro's valuation and without the massive debt servicing costs. It would allow the Greeks to restructure with the drachma or whatever currency they come up with. The 5-year plan would provide real milestones for the Greeks to meet the standards of a modern economy and have real goals to work towards. Most importantly it would set transparent standards for the Greek economy to RE-ENTER the EU---this is important because it would dispel once and for all the spectre of illegitimacy that still lingers around Greece's admission into the EU in the first place.
There's no legal framework for a temporary Grexit, but it's something Tusk and the EC can put together with the executive commission. It'll be useful as a framework for future instances of member states coming into a similar economic situation too.
The alternative---which actually WAS mentioned on the floor---is having EU "economic inspectors" in situ verifying that the Greeks are actually following through with each detail of the bailout! The image of bronzed aryan finance-gestapo tromping around Athens looking over every banker's shoulder is soooooo lulz:
Guardian EU Editor Tweet_sl said:
if gks hated troika before,it can only get worse.germans demanding guaranteed outside vetting of tsipras reforms - source
Anyways as of the end of the first day it's looking like a non-starter:
Telegraph_sl said:
A eurozone official has told AP that creditors want "more specific and binding commitments" from Athens that it will carry out its promises to overhaul the economy.
The official said there's a general feeling in the room that the Greek proposals are "too little, too late" and as such, more proof of the government's commitment to follow through is required.
The source added the reforms do not "necessarily have to be austerity measures."
The Greeks simply have zero credibility among the creditor states and even less among their poorer neighbors. The referendum fiasco and the default that followed has actually pushed THIS YEAR's GDP projections from a 3.5% growth track to a -3% contraction, and it'll get worse by Tuesday. By Wednesday Greece will need 140+ billion instead of 76.