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It all comes down to this:

Yanis Varoufakis: Faithful to the principle that I have no right to bluff, my answer is: The lines that we have presented as red will not be crossed. Otherwise, they would not be truly red, but merely a bluff.

This was the Greek Minister’s of Finance punchline in his op-ed article for the New York Times, published on February 16, just two hours before he entered a tough EUROGROUP meeting to discuss how Greece and its borrowers will “negotiate” the Debt (quotes are necessary since according to the Greek Government, this is not a “negotiation” but a “deposition of different views”).

Source: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/02/17/opinion/yanis-varoufakis-no-time-for-games-in-europe.html

So what are these “RED LINES” that the Government is drawing? According to reports leaked over the weekend:

1. Value Added Taxes: Greece has a multitude of VATs depending on product/service offered and the region of the seller. Higher VATs result in higher income for the Government, however an increase in VAT makes a product less affordable thus leading to fewer sales. This has been an on-going chicken-and-egg debate ever since Greece entered the Financial Assistance Program.
   Red Line: No change in VATs. Current VAT percentages must remain “as is”
2. Overtime compensation and Per-Diem expenses of Government Employees: Over the past years, public servants working in ministries, local governments, universities, public schools, etc, have seen their salaries reduced by approximately 35%. They have also suffered by the elimination of some weird bonuses such as “Bonus for Showing-up at Work On-time” and “Bonus for Washing Hands”.
   Red Line: Compensation for working overtime and allowance fees for travelling off-site shall remain “as is”
3. Lay-off policy in the private sector: Back in the pre-austerity days, the law prohibited employers to fire more than 2% of staff over a period of one month. The reforms of the last years have made it easier for entrepreneurs to plan their work-force according to the market reality.
   Red Line: The Government needs to control all matters regarding lay-offs in the private sector.
4. Employees’ rights to form trade unions and participate in strikes: The “INSTITUTIONS” (formerly known as TROIKA) want to impose limits to unions
   Red Line: This is a Radical Left led Government. Unions and Strikes are SYRIZA’s bread and butter. No changes whatsoever.
5. Pension Reforms: The “INSTITUTIONS” demand that supplementary pensions should be limited, government should subsidize less in pension funds and public insurance agencies should establish zero deficit.
   Red Line: No change in laws regarding pensions and the relevant public insurance agencies.

KOLOTOUMBA Outcome: Remains to be seen but it does not look good…