Minister Kostis Hatzidakis had a meeting with the European Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni at the Ministry of National Economy and Finance. Afterwards, a meeting was held with the participation of Deputy Minister Nikos Papathanasis and Deputy Ministers Haris Theoharis and Athanasios Petralias from the Ministry’s side, and from the European Commission’s side the General Director of DG TAXUD Gerasimos Thomas and the head of the European Commission’s delegation in Greece, Niobe Rigou.

During their meeting, they discussed the new framework of fiscal rules, the course of implementation of the Recovery and Resiliency Fund, as well as tax policy issues.

After the meeting, Mr. Gentiloni said that “I am here today in Athens to meet my friend, Minister Hatzidakis. We discussed the financial situation. As you know, overall economic activity in the European Union is rather weak. Last year we had 11 member states with negative growth. However, we are slightly more optimistic about the second half of this year, as we will see an improvement in the labor market. Inflation is coming down which in turn will lead to lower lending rates in the coming months and we have dealt with the energy crisis by avoiding recession. So, yes, activity is weak, but the outlook for the second half of the year and next year is more positive. Of course, there is concern about the geopolitical context in which we find ourselves.

Greece presents a stronger economy compared to the average economy of the European Union. It is one of the best performing economies and this is the result of two factors:

– the correct decisions taken by the Greek authorities,

– of our European commitment. Because part of this success and growth is linked to the joint efforts of NextGenerationEU. In Greece, we have a stronger recovery plan, which shows results in both investments and reforms.

We’ve had a tough few months since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but I think we can look to the future with a little more optimism for the European economy.”

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For his part, Mr. Hatzidakis pointed out the following: “Commissioner Gentiloni has a distinct role in Brussels, not only because he has been the prime minister of Italy, a large European country, but also because he is highly regarded among the ECOFIN ministers and of the Eurogroup that we meet every month. And a positive contribution to the management of the economic and monetary union, within the framework of the European Union.

Greece, as he noted, has made great progress in recent years. But our commitment is to continue this effort, based on the support of Brussels, on the large package we have from the Cohesion Fund and the Recovery Fund. We have the highest per capita aid in the entire European Union. But based on two more things: fiscal seriousness on the one hand and a pro-investment approach on the other.

We are moving forward with changes and reforms that we have already voted for, on tax evasion for example. And with other changes, such as the bill to encourage business mergers, to encourage innovation, the changes we will bring soon for the Superfund subsidiaries, to make them more flexible and more efficient. And of course this spirit will also be reflected in the new four-year Program from the Greek side, which will be submitted in September in Brussels and which will reflect the spirit I described to you. So let’s move forward! Greece is moving forward with optimism! And it moves forward with optimism, because we try to operate every day with seriousness and reliability!”.