Investing in Greece is no longer a risk but an opportunity, the former European commissioner for economic and financial affairs, Pierre Moscovici, said in an interview with Chrysostomos Bikatzik of the Athens-Macedonian News Agency during a recent visit to Greece.
“I have always considered Greece a country of opportunities and I encourage French companies to take advantage of them. They already have a good position but it could be better. An investment in Greece is no longer a risk, it is an opportunity,” he said.
He noted that Greece, which is bound by the European Green Deal must invest extensively in its green transition, as well as the digital transition and infrastructure, noting that these were areas in which French public utilities and companies had a great deal of experience.
Moscovici, who served as commissioner during the heart of the Greek debt crisis in 2014-2019 and was one of the few people with such intimate knowledge on the state of the Greek economy, visited Greece in his capacity as the first president of the French Court of Audit to sign a bilateral agreement that aims to enhanced cooperation with the Greek Court of Audit.
As he noted, among others, in countries that possess a Court of Audit with “independent judges with jurisdictional duties”, such as Greece and France, “it is easier to impose penalties or to refer violations in the proper management of public funds to civil or criminal courts. This enhances good management and facilitates the fight against corruption.”
Regarding his experiences with the Greek crisis, the former commissioner said he had worked hard to help Greece get out of its difficulties, adding: “I am proud to see that it was not in vain.”
While acknowledging that Greece and its citizens went through difficult times in order to recover, Moscovici said that “returning a few years later, I see the trend is now going in the right direction, with most key indicators in the ‘green’ zone.” At the same time, he stressed, the increase in growth, fiscal balance and reform of the banking sector must be allowed to continue. The challenge that remained, according to the commissioner, was overcoming the repercussions of the debt crisis and sharing the benefits of recovery.
Commenting on the current challeges faced by Greece but also Europe as a whole, he said that Europe was more than ever at the centre of “major geopolitical and strategic affairs”, at a time with the model of liberal democracy that had prevailed after the Cold War was being challenged by illiberal democracies, populist and even authoritarian regimes.
“The war in Ukraine is bringing a paradigm shift that has shaken Europe,” he said, stressing that “Europe can’t be taken for granted” and that it must promote the rule of law and freedom “while learning the language of power in world polarised between the United States and China.” Europe shares the same democratic values, belongs to the same military alliance and participates in the same international fora as the United States and “must make its own voice heard there,” Moscovici added.
Regarding Greece, he said that developments in Turkiye were a cause for concern, as there had been a deterioration in areas such as fundamental rights, freedom of expression, independence of justice and democratic institutions in the past 20 years. This, he added, should not prevent empathy for the country and assistance in the wake of the recent tragic and devastating earthquake.
On the domestic front, he identified the rising cost of living and inflation as major challenges for Greece, requiring a policy of redistribution and significant public investment with strong emphasis on public services.
With respect to revising the Stability and Growth Pact, he supported an ambitious reform and said the European Commission’s current proposal was in the right direction “but needs more realistic and less short-sighted rules” to achieve a real balance between the need for good debt management in the long-term and the need for investments aiming at its reduction.
SOURCE; ANA-MPA
