Greek Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis spoke in Parliament during the debate on the 2015 draft budget on Sunday. He said negotiations will continue with Greece’s troika of international creditors from the European Commission (EC), European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

He said that negotiations are grueling now that Greece is nearing its last review. For this reason the procedure is more complex than in the past. “The procedure is more complex because in 2015 Greece will enter a new relation with our partners and the IMF,” said Mr. Hardouvelis. “This new, looser relation will need bureaucratic procedures, parliamentary approvals and so forth.”

He said that Greece’s participation in the European Union had obligations as well as privileges. For this reason, he stressed the need to continue the reform program even after the memorandum ends. He said that the program being followed isn’t just one that is imposed by Greece’s partners but because it is “the only road to growth.” Mr. Hardouvelis made no secret of the fact that more reforms are needed, adding that these would be painful for certain groups so as not to have the current financial problems roll over to future generations so as to ensure that the Greek economy has a “life cycle greater than the election cycle.”

He asked if the opposition could commit to the continued need for reforms and if all parties could contribute to adopting and promoting the required measures rather than hiding behind pre-election promises.