Of all the actors who fathered the provisional deal that has for now kept Greece inside the eurozone, one senior European Union politician was surprisingly absent from the endgame of the negotiations.
A self-proclaimed "friend" of Greece and a veteran of eurozone politics, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker wasn't among the small circle of leaders that agreed to the most contentious issues during the long summit night of July 12.
"Juncker was there all the time, but not in the small circle," said one senior diplomat who took part in the extended eurozone leaders' meeting.
The so-called breakout sessions were held only between the leaders of Germany, France and Greece and presided over by European Council President Donald Tusk. Nearly 10 hours of the total 17 were spent in this format, noted EU affairs commentator Peter Ludlow in his summit analysis.
"It was certainly an odd meeting. Sixteen government leaders and the presidents of the commission, the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Eurogroup spent the best part of 10 hours with little or nothing to do," Mr. Ludlow said.
According to one senior official, Mr. Juncker disagreed with the way German Chancellor Angela Merkel used the threat of a "timeout" from the eurozone for Greece unless it accepted the creation of a foreign-controlled fund overseeing the privatization of EUR50 billion ($55 billion) worth of Greek assets.
Other participants say he was preoccupied with working out the details of a so-called bridge loan for Greece guaranteed by the EU budget so that the country could service its outstanding debts in the coming days.
Mr. Tusk refused to talk about the bridge financing that night, as leaders didn't have the necessary background to decide on it, but the EUR7.16 billion funding plan was eventually approved five days later.
Another explanation for Mr. Juncker's absence from the negotiating circle may be found in the fraught relationship between him and the Greek prime minister.
In the run-up to the July summit, Mr. Juncker--who until 2013 was chairman of the Eurogroup of finance ministers deciding on the details of the first and second Greek bailouts--tried time and again to fashion for himself a key role during the Greek talks.
His starting point was that a Greek exit from the euro would never happen and that Alexis Tsipras, whom he casually hugged, kissed and called "friend," would just need to agree to a deal with the creditors.
For a few days in June, Mr. Juncker managed to be at the forefront of the negotiations. According to one senior EU official, Mr. Juncker's office was transformed into a passageway between the rooms where Greek negotiators on the one hand and the heads of the other two institutions--the ECB and IMF--were going back and forth.
But then Mr. Tsipras cut off negotiations and called a referendum urging voters to say no to the "austerity deal" drawn up by Mr. Juncker.
Mr. Juncker said at the time that he felt "betrayed" by this sudden U-turnafter they had been so close to a deal, and he accused the young prime minister, 20 years his junior, of lying to his people about the nature and content of the negotiations.
He was particularly upset by Mr. Tsipras's claim that the talks carried out in Mr. Juncker's office were carried out by technocrats behind closed doors, and that they represented a bad deal for the Greek people.
"It's true that the negotiations took place behind closed doors. But these negotiations were different than in the past. Barroso never met with the head of the ECB, IMF and the Greek PM for over 30 hours to sit together and find a solution," Mr. Juncker told the European Parliament, in reference to his predecessor, Jose Manuel Barroso.
It wasn't the first time Mr. Juncker expressed irritation at what he saw as the differences between what Mr. Tsipras was saying back home and what had been agreed in Brussels. At a Group of Seven meeting in early June, soon after Mr. Tsipras denounced to the Greek parliament what he called a "take-it-or-leave-it" offer, Mr. Juncker said: "He knows perfectly well that it is not the case."
"I do not have a personal problem with Alexis Tsipras. He was my friend. He is my friend. But frankly, in order to maintain this friendship, he has to observe some minimum rules," Mr. Juncker said at the time.
Whether this fraught relationship will have an impact on the coming negotiations on the terms of the third bailout remains to be seen.
A person close to Mr. Juncker said Thursday, "Like in every relationship, there have been moments during which Juncker's patience has been tested." But the European Commission president is "determined to make this work. He wants to 'keep the house together.' This requires to sometimes put aside emotions in the interest of making sure that talks succeed."
Daniel Gros, director of the Center for European Policy Studies, a Brussels-based think tank, doubts Mr. Juncker will hold a grudge for too long. "He's been a politician all his life. Personal grudges cannot last more than 20 minutes, then he gets back to the table. Otherwise he wouldn't be where he is."
What Mr. Juncker needs to do now, however, is to "get the Greek administration going," Mr. Gros added. The European Commission under Mr. Barroso tried to form a "task force" of civil servants advising the Greek government on how to run a more efficient administration. Its impact was minimal. "Mr. Juncker may try again; maybe now it will work," Mr. Gros said.
Write to Valentina Pop at valentina.pop@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 30, 2015 13:56 ET (17:56 GMT)
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