Greece is one of the 8 EU countries whose 2025 budget has been approved without any reservations by the Commission, as certified at the Eurogroup meeting in Brussels, in the presence of the Minister of Economy and Finance, Costis Hatzidakis.

The Greek Minister said, “A day before the start of the budget debate in the Plenary Session of the Parliament, the approval by the European Commission of the Greek budget without reservations certifies the credibility of our policy. It is also a success for all Greeks. Of course, not all the wounds of the great crisis of the previous decade have healed. And there are serious social problems to be addressed. But it is very important for Greece that we are making tax cuts, pay increases, and spending increases on critical national and social priorities, while even major European countries are raising taxes and pursuing austerity policies on spending to meet the new fiscal rules. We are not complacent, we do not underestimate economic and social problems, but it was a big mistake to underestimate a collective national success in the fiscal and development field.”

Meanwhile, at the ECOFIN meeting held today, the European Commission presented its assessment of the fiscal policies of member states in the context of new economic stakes.

Greece is one of the 20 countries for which the Commission recommends approval of the Medium Term Plan and one of the 8 countries in the Budget Plans for 2025 considered to be in full compliance with the fiscal recommendations and expenditure ceilings.

In particular:

– To date, 22 national medium-term plans have been submitted of which 20 are considered to meet the new framework’s references and chart a credible fiscal path. Five Member States (Belgium, Bulgaria, Austria, Germany, Germany, and Lithuania) have not yet submitted medium-term plans.

– Draft 2025 Budgets from euro area members (Austria, Belgium and the) of which 8 are considered to be fully aligned with the budgetary recommendations, while 7 are not fully aligned, not aligned and one may not be aligned.

In the context of ECOFIN, ministers also discussed the revision of the Energy Taxation Directive, which is part of the environmentally ambitious “Fit for 55” legislative package. In the context of the negotiations, Greece has opposed the imposition of specific taxation in the aviation and shipping sectors, as it considers that it creates serious risks for the competitiveness of tourism vis-à-vis third Mediterranean countries, and replaces the extension of the existing mandatory exemption with a review clause that will take into account the availability of alternative fuels in sufficient quantities and at affordable prices.

In his intervention, Mr. Hadjidakis stressed the following: “We share the ambitious environmental targets set by the EU. And as a government, we are implementing an ambitious programme to promote the Transition Act. However, the comparative proposal will undermine the competitiveness of tourism due to the increased costs it will impose on air and sea transport, costs that will not be borne by the neighbouring Mediterranean countries. Tourism has made a very significant contribution to the recovery of the Greek economy in recent years, accounting for 1/5 of GDP, and Greece has already imposed an environmental fee on tourism activities to address the consequences of the climate crisis. Maintaining the existing exemption and extending the review clause could be discussed, in conjunction with the alternative fuels business.”

Discussion on this issue will continue.

In the context of the ECOFIN, the ministers were also regularly updated on the progress of the Recovery and Resilience Fund and the revised plans of Belgium, Denmark, Slovenia and Sweden were approved. The President of the Court of Auditors also presented the Report on the implementation of the EU Budget for the year 2023.

At the Eurogroup meeting yesterday, in an enlarged format (with the participation of all EU Member States) attended by UK Finance Minister Rachel Reeves, the discussion focused on the international economic and common challenges facing the EU and the UK.

The European Union and the EU’s economic and political challenges in the EU and the European Union.
In his intervention, Hatzidakis noted that increasing bilateral trade between the EU and the UK would bring mutual benefits, and stressed the need to coordinate efforts to promote free trade and mitigate the consequences of a US shift towards protectionism.

In addition, the Greek Minister referred to the common challenges facing the EU and the UK in terms of boosting investment and productivity. “Addressing these challenges requires action at three levels: First, fiscal policies that combine stability with growth and investment. Second, encouraging private investment by strengthening the efficient functioning of capital markets. Third, central coordination to promote investment in areas of interest, such as energy,” Hatzidakis concluded.

The Finance Ministers of the 20 eurozone member states then discussed the latest economic proposals in the euro area, based on the results of the IMF’s mid-term review of the eurozone economy, which will be completed in June 2025.