German Parliament Seen Likely to Approve Starting New Greek Talks

By Andrea Thomas 
        BERLIN--Key conservative politicians in Germany on Monday gave their 
conditional backing to the compromise on Greece reached by eurozone leaders in 
overnight talks in Brussels, signaling that the German parliament is likely to 
approve later this week the start of negotiations for a new Greek bailout. 


        But Chancellor Angela Merkel still faces a treacherous road 
domestically, because this week's vote would only endorse the start of bailout 
talks. She will have to call on parliament again this summer to ratify the 
bailout if an agreement is reached--a process that could set off more political 
fireworks. 


        Peter Tauber, secretary-general of Ms. Merkel's Christian Democratic 
Union said a meeting of party leaders in Berlin on Monday had expressed "broad 
backing" for the deal. 


        Many CDU lawmakers warned last week they would favor a Greek exit 
from the eurozone over a rescue program stripped of tough economic overhauls, 
limiting the chancellor's margin of maneuver in Brussels. But the exacting list 
of measures Athens will have to implement to unlock funding under the Brussels 
deal--some of them to be enacted by Wednesday--appeared to have persuaded some 
that Germany's hard line had prevailed. 


        "Precondition for me to back taking up negotiations is that the Greek 
parliament implement the measures," said Norbert Barthle, a lawmaker with the 
Conservatives. "If they do this, I am in favor of taking up negotiations. And I 
will then look at the result before backing a third bailout." 


        Volker Kauder, parliamentary floor leader of Ms. Merkel's 
conservatives, said he would advise his parliamentary group to vote in favor of 
starting negotiations if Greece implemented measures as promised and eurozone 
finance ministers deemed them convincing at a telephone conference on Thursday. 



        Germany is one of a handful of eurozone member states that must give 
their governments a mandate to take up bailout negotiations. Although the German 
lower house is in recess this week, house speaker Norbert Lammert said lawmakers 
could be summoned to vote on Friday. Parliament would also have to approve the 
final negotiated deal. 


        When parliament met in February to extend Greece's last program, 29 
out of 311 CDU lawmakers voted against the extension, the biggest conservative 
rebellion on Greece since the eurozone crisis began five years ago. 


        The aggressive negotiating tactics of Greek Premier Alexis Tsipras 
since his election in January have raised doubts among many German 
conservatives--and among the broader public--that Athens would be able and 
willing to carry out the required overhauls. 


        Given the ruling coalition's 80% majority in parliament and the fact 
that both Ms. Merkel's Social Democratic partners and the opposition supports 
more aid for Greece, the unknown is less whether she can get a program through 
parliament, but whether a significant "no" vote in her ranks would damage her 
authority, analysts say. 


        "I am not certain whether this is a permanent solution," said Hans 
Michelbach, lawmaker with Ms. Merkel's Bavarian sister party, adding that he was 
unsure whether he would back the final bailout deal. 


        The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily, a longtime 
critic of Greece's successive bailouts, struck a downbeat note on the deal. 
"Europe pretends to demand reforms. And Greece pretends something is actually 
changing," the paper wrote on its website. 


        In a reminder of the high political stakes, several prominent 
opponents of Eurozone bailouts in Ms. Merkel's ranks said on Monday they had 
already made up their minds and would reject any more aid to Greece. 


        "We buy a little bit of time for a lot of money in the hope that 
conditions in Greece will fundamentally change and improve," said Wolfgang 
Bosbach, a CDU lawmaker and longtime critic of Greece, adding he would reject 
the deal. 


        By contrast, Ms. Merkel's junior coalition partner, the Social 
Democrats, and the opposition parties gave the compromise strong backing. 


        "The [bailout] agreement was a victory of common sense," Thomas 
Oppermann, parliamentary floor leader of the Social Democrats, said. He said he 
was "optimistic the Bundestag will back starting negotiations with a broad 
majority" as long as the Greek parliament sent the right signals by approving a 
first raft of reforms by Wednesday. 


        German Vice chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, who is also economics minister 
and chairman of the Social Democrats, said "I am convinced that we have now 
cleared the way to finally overcome this crisis." 


        Stefan Lange 


        in Berlin contributed to this article. 


        Write to Andrea Thomas at andrea.thomas@wsj.com 


        (END) Dow Jones Newswires


        July 13, 2015 13:34 ET (17:34 GMT)

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