The Eurogroup meeting of May 11 did not, as expected, resolve all the issues with the Greek continuing bailout and lack of reforms, but the mood was considerably lighter and more hopeful. In a good-will move, the Greek government repaid €750 million to the IMF a day early. Together with the fact that the outspoken finance minister Varoufakis was sidelined from the negotiations, the eurozone finance ministers were more positive than usual in the past months after the meeting. They welcomed the progress that has been achieved. However, the deal is not yet done. Greece needs to propose tough and credible reforms, some of which are seemingly non-negotiable for the far-left government (such as pension reductions). The wording of the final statement used the phrase “taking stock”, that POLITICO Europe mockingly points out is now very popular in eurospeak and has absolutely no substantive meaning. The talks continue, the deal is not yet reached, but mood is a bit lighter in the discussions.

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