P. Koukoulopoulos: “Five challenges in the common struggle of European citizens”

The challenges to which the European Union must respond convincingly were mentioned by the Member of Parliament of Kozani and Head of KTE Finances of PASOK – Movement, as a speaker on behalf of the Parliamentary Group during the joint meeting of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs, the Standing Committee on Production & Trade and the Special Standing Committee on European Affairs, on the subject of “discussion and exchange of views with the members of the Budget Committee of the Berlin State Parliament on economic and other matters”.

Taking the “baton” from the reference of the President of the visiting Committee that “Athens is the cradle of Democracy”, P. Koukoulopoulos welcomed the delegation noting that “for European citizens, Berlin is a bright example where the most modern form of democracy flourished of Democracy, the liberal Democracy, as it was one of the most welcoming places on the European continent to modern ideas and the promotion of the dialectical method”.

“Liberal Democracy, however, nowadays is increasingly challenged by citizens, a large part of whom turn their backs on politics, abstain or – when they don’t abstain – reinforce extreme and usually dead-end voices. This crisis will continue as long as we collectively weaken in the EU. to give convincing answers on two fronts: the climate crisis and inequalities”, he underlined.

Especially for Europe, he added two additional critical parameters, the demographic and the common European defense. “The E.U. -and Greece in particular- is facing the great threat of demographics, it is in danger of not being able to keep the Social State standing, if it continues to age at these rates”, he stressed about the demographics. Regarding the common European defense, he pointed out that “for Greece, defense spending is a constant “bleeding”, as in no other European country. We seek friendly relations of good neighborliness with Turkey, but we are obliged to arm ourselves, because we do not negotiate our national sovereignty”.

Further, focusing on the fair green transition, he said that “from my many years of service in the Local Government, I am well aware that Berlin has pioneered good green transition practices, such as the energy upgrade of buildings that generate energy with photovoltaic panels. You achieved the EU goals very early. So, your experience is valuable to us, because in Greece we have the paradox that the development of RES has been limited to the right of an energy oligarchy. More generally, the E.E. he deals with the transition in a rather thoughtless way. It is enough to look at the issues of competitiveness in industry, but also what is happening in the agricultural sector”.

P. Koukoulopoulos recalled that “PASOK, many years ago, was the 1st party in Greece that spoke about green development, one of the first in the entire EU”, making it clear that “we remain steadfast in this direction, with Energy Democracy as a priority. With the cooperation of the member states, we can find a common pace, utilizing the best examples of your country, for energy communities, self-production in every home, with the participation of Local Government, farmers and manufacturing”.

At the end of his presentation, he pointed out that “we have to admit that we are far from what the founders of the EU envisioned. Today, however, we are here to reaffirm our will to move forward. The parameters I mentioned above, from the climate crisis to inequalities, demographics, common European defense and Energy Democracy, are open fronts for our cooperation. The continent we dream of, with the right initiatives, can become a reality.”

In more detail, you can see the video of the speech here: https://collab.parliament.gr/~0U958.