Some blame EU Commission for Greek obstinacy in debt talks

By Jan Strupczewski

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Some eurozone countries are accusing the European Commission of giving Greece false hope of new loans for less reform effort, but they still want Brussels to find a way to keep a defiant Athens in the euro.

After four months of talks with scant progress, hawkish governments privately blame Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici for muddying their message by playing "good cop".

Greece is now close to default and still resisting unpopular labour and pension reforms that are conditions for more aid.
Some governments believe the creditors would get faster results if the institutions representing them -- the Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund -- presented a more united tough front.

"In this respect, I think the European Commission plays a bad role," a senior official from a eurozone government said.

"Some people in Athens still think they can get money without reforms, and cite Juncker, his cabinet and Moscovici as supporting their view," the senior official said. "They think Juncker wants them to stay in the eurozone at any price."

Those unhappy with the Commission's negotiating tactics include Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, Austria, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Slovakia, the official said. Even dovish France was "starting to be a bit annoyed"
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But no government has gone public with this criticism.

Juncker and Commission officials have insisted since talks began after the left-wing government of Alexis Tsipras won power in late January that there was no other solution than Greece remaining in the euro.

Juncker, a former chairman of...