Earlier today, Samaras will meet with coalition partners Evangelos Venizelos (PASOK) and Fotis Kouvelis (Democratic Left) to finalise the new EUR 11.5 billion austerity package for 2013-2014, drawn up by Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras, in view of the Premier’s scheduled meeting with the troika tomorrow. Stournaras is due to meet the heads of the EC, ECB and IMF team in Greece this afternoon.

According to Kathimerini, it is expected that apart from cuts in spending in various government departments, the measures will also include considerable reductions to state pensions (saving around EUR 5 billion), which will be one of the most politically sensitive issues for the coalition to handle, given that the three parties had committed in their election campaigns to avoiding “horizontal” cuts. Sources said that an extra EUR 300 million would be cut from the healthcare budget.

“We have to ensure that the troika delivers a favorable review,” one of Samaras’s aides told Kathimerini. “There is no room for games.”

Meanwhile, according to an announcement by the ministry of Administrative Reform, 21 organizations are being merged under a pilot scheme as part of cuts in public spending. These institutions were financed with almost EUR 40 million per year, protothema.gr reported.

Initially the merged organizations will be those “that provide similar services” and it is estimated that “the merger will be able to provide the same services to citizens at lower cost for the state budget and greater efficiency, because the new organizations will be able to better exploit the available resources, streamline the use of real estate, limit boards and management positions etc.”

According to Reforms minister Antonis Manitakis, the staff of these organizations, totaling 5,256 employees, will not be laid off but will be transferred to other departments of the public sector based on staff evaluation. In all cases these services will continue to be provided either by the new organizations that will emerge, or by the supervising ministries.

According to the ministry the merged institutions were organized in 213 legal bodies throughout the country. There will be 9 groupings after the mergers, which will be organized in 34 legal bodies.

Meanwhile, Yannis Emiris, investment-banking chief at Alpha Bank was appointed to run the Privatisation Agency. Takis Athanasopoulos, a former chief executive at state-controlled power producer PPC an former chief operating officer at Toyota Europe was named as chairman.

According to official figures, Greece’s privatisation programme aims to raise EUR 19 billion by the end of 2015. It has so far collected just EUR 1.56 billion in cash since the first bailout agreement in 2010. More than 90% of the privatisation programme will come from the lease and concessions of state land and infrastructure.

EU heads of state or government will conclude the first phase of the 2012 European Semester, the six-month cycle of economic policy coordination. They will endorse the country-specific recommendations prepared by the Commission that provide guidance for member states implementing national decisions on budgets, structural reforms and employment policies.

The European Council will take stock of the implementation of the “EU growth agenda”, with a particular emphasis on youth employment. Furthermore, it will review progress and discuss how the Union can deepen its trade and investment relationships with key partners.

EU heads of state or government will also have their first substantial discussion on the Multiannual Financial Framework (2014-2020).

Finally, the European Council is expected to examine the question of opening accession negotiations with Montenegro, following the 26 June General Affairs Council.

In his invitation letter to European leaders, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy wrote: “The challenge for this European Council is, more than ever before, to signal, in a clear and concrete manner, that we are doing everything required in response to the crisis. This means endorsing the country-specific recommendations to guide our policies and budgets, adopting the “Compact for growth and jobs”, launching the final phase of work towards a new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) mobilised in support of growth and jobs, and, last but not least, setting our Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) on a new path…”