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Over in Germany, cracks are starting to widen in the Angela Merkel's government. In the magazine Stern (in German), Horst Seehofer – who is head of the CSU, the Bavarian partner of Merkel's CDU party – sharply criticized decisions taken at the recent eurozone summit and threatened to break the coalition if further financial commitments were made to crisis-hit countries. Greek Socialist Pasok leader Evangelos Venizelos said today that he hoped Greece would be able to benefit from a European Union concession – already extended to Spain, Ireland and possibly Italy – allowing the use of EU rescue funding for the direct recapitalization of banks.---- Venizelos said:....I would like to hope that this will apply to Cyprus, Portugal and Greece. This would help reduce (Greek) debt. If it were to apply to Greece, it would reduce the country's debt, now somewhere above €330bn, by as much as €50bn, which has been earmarked for the country's banks as part of an earlier debt restructuring deal. The Pasok chief also presented a 10-point plan for Greece, which includes honouring the country's commitment to the country's creditors but extending the adjustment period by three years.,,,,Over to Athens, where Horst Reichenbach, the head of the EU taskforce created to speed up Greece's recovery using EU support funds, said Greece must prioritize paying out arrears it has racked up with suppliers to get funds flowing again to cash-strapped businesses. The EU task force, which is working to help Greece reform its bloated public sector, said the lack of financing risked undermining any progress achieved through reforms. Elsewhere ekathimerini.com reports that the government is ready to negotiate with the troika of the ECB, the EU and the IMF. It cites a government spokesman who said:We will present data that cannot be doubted, which will prove the dead-end we have been led to by the current policies, especially with regard to the recession and unemployment. Using this data as our weapon and presenting our alternative proposals, we believe that we will succeed in a new path being approved.We are making every effort to ensure there won't be any more sacrifices or job losses. The Greek government is expected to present its policy program in parliament on Thursday or Friday. Separately, the labor institute has warned that the actual number of unemployed Greeks, including the long-term jobless, will reach 1.6m, or close to 30% by the end of the year, rather than the 1.48m originally expected. The gloomy forecast comes a day after eurozone data showed that more than one in two Greek young people are already out of work.