Editorial: Opportunity

When negotiations over the EU Pandemic Recovery Fund ended in July almost everyone in Greece agreed that our country was among the winners as Northern European States consented to issuing mutualised European debt with most of the revenues going to fund the South.

No one disputed the position that the total 70 billion euro package was a tool which for Greece would function as a new Marshall Plan.

It would not only help manage the recession triggered by the coronavirus pandemic but would also help lay the groundwork for the growth path that the country so sorely needs.

Quite a while before that EU summit, the PM told his ministers clearly that the government would not squander the money with the thoughtlessness of the nouveau riche.

As the time approaches for Greece to submit to the European Commission its recovery plan Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ admonition is once again timely.

Those directly and indirectly involved in this project must always keep at the back of their mind that they do not have the luxury of forgetting the clearly declared objective the EU Recovery Fund.

That is to a large extent because this is the last chance for the Greek economy.

The country has no alternative but to be prepared when it receives the funding.

The government has no choice but to spend the money prudently in order to resolve political and economic dysfunctions that have lingered for decades and thus restructure Greece’s economic model.

The responsibility exceeds the limits of a single government. It is historic.