In an address to the Vouli, the single-chamber Greek Parliament, on Thursday 26 April, Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission, expressed his attachment to a Greece that is deeply anchored in the European Union.
In his speech, he praised the actions of the Greek authorities and the perseverance of the Greek people. “Greece and Europe are indivisible (…), together and forever”, he said (our translation throughout). He went on to say that “Europe without Greece would be incomplete. And Greece without Europe would be just a country like any other, yet it is not just a country like any other.”
On geopolitics, Juncker referred, first of all, to the European prospects of the Balkans, after the Commission's recommendation in mid-April to open accession negotiations for Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) (see EUROPE 12003). With regard to its geographical and historic situation, the Commission President said that Greece was “one of the pillars of the stability of the Balkans”.
Referring to the problems the Hellenic Republic has faced in recent years, Juncker said that Greece had been at the “epicentre” of the financial, economic, social and migration crisis. He also said that he firmly believed that no other country would have managed to overcome the problems that Greece has faced. He stressed his particular admiration for the Greek people over the hosting of refugees.
Solidarity and responsibility. The second part of Juncker's speech focused on the Greek economic situation.
The former Luxembourg Prime Minister congratulated the Greek authorities on their implementation of the many socio-economic reforms under the third bailout plan, stressing the return to health of the country's finances.
In 2017, the Greek primary budgetary surplus (not including servicing of the debt) stood at 4.2% of GDP and the budgetary surplus was at 0.8% (see EUROPE 12007).
Juncker also praised “the less well-off”, recognising the collective efforts made during this period.
With Athens to leave the third financial assistance plan in mid-August, the Commission President urged the Greek authorities to “continue their efforts”, so as not to squander everything that has already been achieved. A particular aim, he said, will be to apply all the reforms decided upon, guarantee the stability of the banks and stamp out corruption “once and for all”.
In return, Juncker called upon the institutional partners of Athens to keep their commitments, particularly concerning measures to relieve government debt, which stood at 178.6% of Greek GDP at the end of 2017.
Solidarity and responsibility are two sides of the same coin, that of our EU, he said.
On Friday 27 April, the Eurogroup will discuss the 'French mechanism' to index the level of repayment of the Greek debt to the country's economic growth ('growth-adjustment mechanism') (see EUROPE 12008).
Earlier, at a press conference on Thursday with the Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, Juncker spoke in support of completing the third Greek bailout plan without opening a preventative budgetary line under the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).
This will mean that ending seven years of financial tutelage for Athens will be “as clean a break as possible”, said Juncker, who was the President of the Eurogroup in 2010 when Greece applied for assistance from the Eurozone (see EUROPE 10116, 10107). (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)