Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met in the morning at Megaros Maximos with EU Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, who is in Greece to participate in the Delphi Economic Forum.
“I am glad to see you. It is always my pleasure to welcome you to Greece. At an interesting time, we are two months before the next European elections. I am also looking forward to the discussion we will have about the general situation of the European economy” the Prime Minister emphasized and added:
“We are pleased to report that Greece is doing quite well. I think we have achieved something that seems to be difficult for most Member States, and that is high growth rates. At the same time, however, and a firm commitment to fiscal responsibility with significant primary surpluses, which will continue to contribute to reducing the debt-to-GDP ratio. We are fully aware that to maintain these sustainable high growth rates, we need to focus even more on structural reforms. This was the mandate given to the government nine months ago. As you can see, we continue at full speed, regardless of the election cycle, to implement these reforms.
For example, we have just introduced a very important reform, perhaps the most important reform that has ever been done in our judicial system, in terms of better allocation of our judges, in order to reduce the time it takes the judicial system to render its verdict, because we knew that this has always been a structural obstacle to improving both the state of the rule of law and our economic performance. I want to assure you that the government is strong and we remain fully committed to our reform programme, which unlike what happened during the difficult years, is our own reform programme. I believe it has the support of the European institutions, with which, as you know, we have an excellent level of cooperation”.
For his part, Paolo Gentiloni noted: “Indeed, I am quite optimistic about the European economy, although the pace with which it entered 2024 is very weak. We hope to have an acceleration of economic activity in the second half of the year and perhaps in 2025 we will be in a better position. But indeed, as you said, we have to recognize that the scenario for Greece is different. We have an average growth in Europe of 0% and something, while in Greece you have an average growth of 2% and something, which makes a difference.
It’s not just the numbers. I believe that it is also the way in which Greece utilizes the European resources of “NextGenerationEU”. This is part of the story, a story of increased investment and in addition to investment in strategic areas such as research, development, education, how Greece is increasing exports, which is also a very important message. Let me also acknowledge your personal role, which is very important at this time for the future of the Union. We are, of course, at a moment of change in the political cycle, close to the elections, but the fact that we have a success story to tell is very important for the future of Europe”.
The meeting was attended, on behalf of the government, by the Director of the Diplomatic Office of the Prime Minister Anna-Maria Boura, the President of the Council of Economic Experts Michalis Argyrou, the Head of the Economic Office of the Prime Minister Alexis Patelis and the Special Adviser on International Policy and Public Diplomacy to the Prime Minister , Aristotelia Peloni.
From the side of the European Commission, the General Director of Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD) Gerasimos Thomas, the Head of the Delegation of the European Commission in Greece Niovi Rigou and the Commissioner’s partner, Erik Burckhardt, participated.
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