Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with the European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni who will participate in the annual Delphi Economic Forum in the historic town of Delphi between April 10-13.

After welcoming the Commissioner, the Greek Premier noted that Greece had achieved high growth rates, something many EU member-states were finding hard to accomplish.

The meeting was attended, on behalf of the Greek government, by the Director of the Prime Minister’s Diplomatic Office Anna-Maria Boura, the Head of the Council of Economic Advisors Michael Arghyrou, the Head of the Prime Minister’s Economic Office Alexis Patelis and the Advisor to the Prime Minister for Global Affairs and Strategic Communications, Aristotelia Peloni. On the part of the European Commission, the Director-General for Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD) Gerassimos Thomas, the Head of the Representation of the European Commission in Greece, Niovi Ringou and the member of Paolo Gentiloni’s cabinet, Erik Burckhardt, participated.

“At the same time, there remains a steadfast commitment to fiscal responsibility with significant primary surpluses, which will continue to contribute to the reduction of the debt-to-GDP ratio”, the Greek PM added. Mitsotakis continued by stressing that focusing on implementing structural reforms in the Greek economy was crucial in maintaining the current economic trajectory. Giving an example of his government’s commitment to pushing forward with meaningful changes he alluded to a recent major overhaul of the lower court system aimed at expediting the process of Greek court adjudication.

Recognizing the difference in performance between Greece and the typical EU member states, the Commissioner praised the economic turnaround that Greece had achieved. “We [EU] have an average growth rate in Europe at around 0%, whereas in Greece, you have an average growth rate of 2%,”

Gentiloni highlighted how Greece had managed to leverage the European funds of the ‘NextGenerationEU to achieve this success. Gentiloni praised the Greek PM personally for his role. “Allow me also to acknowledge your personal role, which is very significant at this moment for the future of the Union. We are, of course, at a moment of political transition, close to elections, but the fact that we have a success story to tell is very important for the future of Europe as well. I warmly thank you for your time and this meeting.”