The assembly was attended by the President of the Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, while speeches were made by the President of European Movement International, former Member of the European Parliament, former Prime Minister of Belgium, Mr. Guy Verhofstadt and the Prime Minister, Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who underlined the results of the economic policy noting the reduction of unemployment, the increase of exports, the reduction of debt, the conquest of the investment grade. And he asked the companies, among other things, to reduce prices when costs are reduced, employee participation in profits, more actions of a social nature.
Regarding labor matters, the president of the SEB argued that the labor relations of the past cannot provide solutions to the modern needs of workers and businesses and added:
“The key to increasing productivity is ensuring a flexible operating framework for businesses while respecting labor rights. From this step, we invite the social partners and the state to an open constructive and fruitful dialogue, without prejudices and ideologies, with the aim of a new social contract for the benefit of all”.
In relation to investments, he said that the leap in productive investments is the only answer to two critical challenges that the Greek economy is still facing: the improvement of the current account balance and the increase in productivity.
“It is necessary to create an investment tool, which will work regardless of the size of the company, sector and region, either for the expansion – modernization of an existing activity, or for the creation of a new one. A tool of this type that is worth considering is excess depreciation on productive investments. Any fiscal concerns are answered by the fact that, by their very nature, excess depreciation yields tax and insurance revenue for the state, long before it creates tax relief for businesses.”
Addressing the entrepreneurs, he noted that “no matter what incentives the State gives, the responsibility for improving our productivity remains individual” and continued: “We must invest more. To transform businesses even faster, adopting technological solutions, digital transformations, and looking for innovation. We are fortunate that our products and services appeal to a market of over 300 million people. Let’s improve productivity, become more competitive, and aim more confidently at the markets of other countries.”
Referring to the developments in the economy, Mr. Theodoropoulos pointed out that in a difficult environment (Geopolitical unrest with two wars in our region, attacks on the Red Sea, climate change, long-term effects of the pandemic, lagging behind the European Union compared to international competitors) Greece has achieved significant progress in recent years. As he specifically stated, Greece: “It achieves the necessary primary surpluses to service its debt. It achieves high growth rates, above most member states.
It has significantly reduced unemployment. It is gradually reducing the distance with Europe in the matter of insurance contributions. Public revenues increase with a simultaneous reduction in taxes. Tax evasion is limited. The digitization of the public sector is progressing at a relatively satisfactory pace. Significant resources have been secured for the economy through the Recovery Fund and the NSRF. The first, albeit still timid, steps were taken to simplify industry licensing, strengthen Research and Innovation, gradually reform ancillary insurance with capitalization features, develop the circular economy and promote acquisitions and mergers. Also, another welcome development is the creation of an innovation ecosystem with start-ups that boost the dynamism of the economy. The result of all these actions was the achievement of the investment grade, the improvement of the image of Greece internationally, its repositioning on the world map as an investment destination, and the increase of Foreign Direct Investments, although the majority of them are not directed to productive investments “.
He noted, however, that despite the progress, perennial problems remain unsolved (zoning, speed of administration of justice, unfair taxation of middle managers, bureaucracy, polynomialism, incomplete interconnection of education and the labor market), lack of infrastructure in the industrial concentrations of the region, while new ones were added, among which stand out the high cost of electricity, the lack of workers in all specialties and the insufficient access of SMEs to bank financing.
Mr. Guy Verhofstadt in his speech emphasized, among others: “Today we live in a new era of “empires” in which, not nation states, but large countries and supranational organizations, decide the fate of the world. It is a very harsh world based on political, military, economic and technological competition. Is Europe ready for this new world order? The answer is that we are not. We urgently need to build a European Defense Union and complete our single market (Letta report), particularly in capital services, telecommunications and digital markets. This will require institutional reforms, such as ending the unanimity rule and introducing a larger European budget, as proposed in the Draghi report.”
Mr Verhofstadt presented figures showing that EU defense spending is 35% of the US equivalent but is much less effective, while European multinationals are a fraction of their US and Chinese counterparts for reasons related to and with competition law preventing the creation of international “champions”. He proposed the repetition of the Next Generation EU model for the financing of investments in the European economy.
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