Estonian EU Commission Vice-President and Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas will be responsible for the portfolio of Finnish Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn until November. This isn’t the first time that Mr. Kallas has taken charge of Europe’s finances as he had stood in for Mr. Rehn in the past when the Finnish politician had campaigned for the European elections.

It was in this capacity that Mr. Kallas had been present during the validation of Greece’s primary surprlus by Eurostat on April 23 and at the beginning of the debate on the viability of the Greek debt in May. Hence, Mr. Kallas already has an overall picture of matters of Greek concern.

Mr. Kallas appears cautious regarding a radical restructuring of the economy stating that he doesn’t believe that there is a huge possibility for this bearing in mind the PSI that had preceded in the private sector and the fact that the bonds of the institutional sector concern taxpayers’ money. He has placed himself in favor of intensifying the tax collection system, and wants Greece to take the fight against tax evasion very seriously.

He predicts that there is light at the end of the tunnel for Greece, stating that the measures taken over the last few years will begin to bring results.

A free-market liberal, Mr. Kallas had been in favor of Greece’s exit from the eurozone maintaining that prosperity would have subsided tenfold the amount it has in recent years. He considers tourism to be one of Greece’s greatest short-term weapons and he believes that there needs to be long-term improvement in sectors such as maritime and agriculture.