European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker had a series of meetings in Athens during his visit, while the main issue discussed was the labour law and negotiation talks on the labour changes between Greece and lenders to take place during the autumn.

Responding to questions posed by social bodies gathered at the offices of the Economic and Social Committee, Mr. Juncker did not hide the disagreements between European Union and IMF highlighting that:

– The IMF is not an expert in social issues
– I have said many times that such negotiations should have political character and the decisions should be made by those elected by the people (implying that it should not be made by IMF staff)
– The EU will support any agreement signed by the partners in Greece, as long as they agree (referring to government’s aim to restore collective agreements)
– I’m not a fan of massive layoffs. There should be an independent body that will approve such requests.

Addressing the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV), Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called on all the social partners in the economy to take part in a dialogue to restore the good relationships in the labour market and clarified that his government did not intend to implement neo-liberal policies in the market, arguing that the regulations in the labour market were not excessive, as some claimed.