“The new fiscal rules should simultaneously ensure fiscal discipline and economic growth, while taking care of countries with high defense spending. Today we took a step forward and I am optimistic that we will soon reach a balanced agreement that will reflect these basic principles” emphasized the Minister of National Economy and Finance, Kostis Hatzidakis, speaking about the revision of the Stability Pact.
According to the relevant press release, in the discussion on the new fiscal rules, progress was made on the outstanding issues and it was agreed to intensify the processes at all levels with the aim of reaching an agreement as soon as possible.
In his intervention, Mr. Hatzidakis pointed out that the compromise text presented by the Spanish Presidency is a good basis for further discussion, while he particularly focused on the Greek request for special treatment of defense expenditures in the relevant calculations.
A debate was held within the Eurogroup on the competitiveness of the European economies. Kostis Hatzidakis, in his intervention, underlined that strengthening competitiveness is, along with demographic and immigration issues, one of the main challenges facing the countries of Europe today.
“To meet this challenge we will need to act decisively at both European and national level. At the European level, we should expand our cooperation in critical sectors but also gain greater strategic autonomy over our competitors. At the national level, we should speed up the pro-development reforms that improve the business environment and bring investments”, Mr. Hatzidakis pointed out.
The economic impact of the war in Ukraine, macroeconomic developments in the Eurozone and the annual report of the European Fiscal Council (ECB) for 2023 were also discussed during the meetings.
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Tags: Hatzidakis Defense expenditures account excessive deficits
