希臘與債權國談判局面破裂

Talks aimed at reaching an 11th-hour deal between Greek ministers and their bailout creditors collapsed on Sunday evening after a new economic reform proposal submitted by Athens was deemed inadequate to continue negotiations.

上週日晚，由希臘政府提交的經濟改革新方案被視爲不宜繼續討論下去，雙方談判走向破裂。這一談判的目的，是爲了促成希臘各部長及其紓困債權國之間達成最後一刻協議。

The breakdown is the clearest sign yet that differences between the two sides may be too wide to breach, increasing the possibility that Athens will not secure the 7.2bn in bailout aid it needs to avoid defaulting on its debts — including a 1.5bn loan repayment due to the International Monetary Fund in just two weeks.

此次談判的破裂釋放了迄今最明確的信號，表明雙方之間的分歧可能無法彌合，希臘政府無法最終落實72億歐元紓困援助的可能性大大增加。而這筆資金是希臘政府要避免出現債務違約所亟需的，其中還包括須在兩週內向國際貨幣基金組織(IMF)償還的一筆15億歐元的貸款。

Greek negotiators, including Nikos Pappas, aide-de-camp to Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, left the headquarters of the European Commission only 45 minutes after entering the building for what were characterised as a “last try” by one of the eurozone officials involved in the talks.

包括希臘總理亞歷克西斯•齊普拉斯(Alexis Tsipras)副手尼科斯•帕帕斯(Nikos Pappas)在內的希臘談判人員，在進入歐盟委員會(European Commission)總部大樓僅僅45分鐘後就離開了這一建築。參與磋商的一位歐元區官員形容他們的行爲是“最後努力”。

A commission spokesman said there remained a “significant gap” between the two sides, amounting to up to 2bn per year, and there was no longer time to reach a “positive assessment” of Greek efforts before a high-stakes meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Thursday.

歐盟委員會一名發言人表示，雙方之間依然存在“巨大分歧”，涉及金額總計爲最高每年20億歐元。此外，這位發言人還表示，在週四召開歐元區財長重要會議之前，已沒有時間對希臘的努力做出“積極評價”了。

“While some progress was made, the talks did not succeed,” said the spokesman. “On this basis, further discussion will now have to take place in the eurogroup.”

這名發言人表示：“儘管取得了一定進展，這一磋商並未取得成功。在此基礎上，歐元區集團必須開展進一步磋商。”

That eurogroup meeting is seen by many officials as the last chance for Athens to secure a deal on an agreed list of the economic reforms its creditors are demanding in order to release the 7.2bn aid tranche before Greece’s EU bailout runs out at the end of the month.

許多官員認爲，歐元區財長會議是希臘政府與債權國達成經濟改革協議的最後機會，這樣才能在針對希臘的歐盟紓困計劃月底到期前，發放72億歐元的援助資金。

Asked as he exited the commission headquarters whether the break-off in talks was a bad sign, Mr Pappas told the Financial Times: “We will see.”

在離開歐盟委員會總部時，帕帕斯被問及這次談判破裂是不是一個不好的信號。他告訴英國《金融時報》：“這個問題還有待觀察。”

Without the endorsement of Greece’s trio of bailout monitors — the commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank — the prospects of an amicable agreement on Thursday is remote, raising the prospect eurozone negotiators may resort to the “take it or leave it” strategy used on Cyprus at a eurogroup meeting two years ago.

如果希臘得不到三個主要紓困監管機構（歐盟委員會、IMF及歐洲央行(ECB)）的背書，週四達成友好協議的可能性將十分渺茫。這一局面令人們猜測，歐元區談判人員可能會採取兩年前在一次歐元區集團會議上對塞浦路斯採取過的策略——“要麼接受，要麼放棄”。

On that occasion, an ECB representative warned that without a deal, the central bank would be forced to cut all emergency funding to Cypriot banks — essentially laying waste the country’s financial system. There have been similar pressures on the ECB in the past week to take the same stance with Athens.

當時，一名歐洲央行代表警告說，如果達不成協議，該行將被迫削減塞浦路斯各銀行發放的緊急援助資金——此舉實質上會導致該國金融體系癱瘓。就在上週，歐洲央行也曾遭遇類似壓力，要求該行對希臘政府採取類似立場。

One senior official involved in the talks said there could still be a compromise on Thursday if Greek negotiators “go back to Athens and say: ‘Oh shit, we have to do something’.” But the official acknowledged such a U-turn was unlikely.

一名參與談判的高官表示，如果希臘談判人員“能夠對雅典方面說：‘天哪，我們得做點什麼’”，雙方仍有可能在週四達成妥協。不過這名官員承認，這種一百八十度的大轉彎不太可能發生。