A Dutchman’s silver lining

By Zeke Turner

The Eurogroup president's handling of the Greek talks has won him support for a new term.

When German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said Saturday in response to the breakdown of Greek bailout negotiations, “Often after times of crisis, you come out ahead,” he was referring to the eurozone. But he might also have been talking about Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem.
Dijsselbloem has been widely praised in recent days for what one fellow minister called his “firm handling” of the Greek crisis, and many believe the Dutch finance chief has solidified his bid for re-election to the Eurogroup chairmanship, which he has held since 2013.
After Saturday’s tense Eurogroup meeting, Dijsselbloem stood behind the podium in the press room of the European Council and gave one of the tensest press conferences of his tenure, which ends later this month.
Upstairs, the meeting of the 19 eurozone finance ministers he presides over had just broken down. The Greek delegate, Yanis Varoufakis, had left the meeting five minutes earlier and refused to sign off on a statement the group was preparing saying they had declined to re-extend the deadline on further credit for Greece under its second bailout program.
In a scary moment for Europe — the first time a member of the common currency had walked out of such a meeting — Dijsselbloem projected calm.
After fielding ten minutes of questions without revealing any emotion or frustration beyond repeatedly calling the breakdown of talks with Greece “regrettable,” he said he would return upstairs to make sure the “stability of the eurozone remains at its high level.”
Running against Dijsselbloem for the Eurogroup post is Spanish Finance Minister Luis de Guindos, who highlights his role in his country’s economic recovery, mainly from instituting the kind of painful reforms Greece has resisted.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has in the past expressed support for De Guindos, who is also a member of the same center-right political European People’s Party political bloc, while Dijsselbloem is a Social Democrat.
But Schäuble, who as the representative of Europe’s largest economy is the key decision-maker in the Eurogroup, is said to be comfortable with Dijsselbloem in the post. Sources say the two men have a good working relationship, even though they are from different political parties.
“We’ve got the impression that Schäuble won’t campaign for De Guindos,” said one government official from a euro country.

A message of stability

Others say it is important now to send a message of stability about the euro area. Asked about Dijsselbloem’s re-election campaign at a breakfast hosted by POLITICO on Tuesday, European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans declined to formally endorse a candidate, but said the Eurogroup “shouldn’t change horses” at a critical moment.
Greece’s economic situation has dominated meetings of the euro area finance ministers and executive staff from Greece’s creditor group for years. In just the last two weeks, the Eurogroup has held five meetings and one telephone conference call.
Dijsselbloem, observers say, has imposed a sense of order on the process — no easy task given the constant miscommunications and misunderstandings of process and message between Greece and everyone else.
“Dijsselbloem is very efficient,” said an aide to Finnish Finance Minister Alexander Stubb after a Eurogroup last Thursday broke up because there was no proposal from the Greeks on the table to discuss. “If there’s nothing to talk about he just ends the meeting.”
Back home in Holland, Dijsselbloem is known as a technocrat who keeps his cool in tough situations. That was certainly on display Saturday, when what could have been a panic-inducing breakdown of talks instead proved a cathartic experience for the group.
After Varoufakis walked out, one EU source said, “There was a sudden change in the mood.”
Shortly after, as Dijsselbloem held his press conference, the remaining 17 ministers and other Eurogroup participants, including European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, were upstairs watching in tense silence, according to a source who was in the room.
Dijsselbloem was “totally adequate in his seriousness,” the source said. Another participant was “impressed by his unambiguousness.”
When Dijsselbloem returned upstairs, he received a sustained round of applause, sources from inside the room said. It may have been an early indicator of support from a group that will choose a new chairman at its next “ordinary” meeting.