Greek PM pledges cautious distribution of EU funds
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday hailed his government’s success in securing around 72 billion euros from an EU recovery fund to deal with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Our objectives were met to the full,” Mitsotakis told Parliament during a debate on a taxation bill.
He said the funds would be disbursed carefully and with meticulous planning on the basis of the proposals of the committee led by Nobel Laureate Sir Christopher Pissarides.
“We are facing a great national challenge,” Mitsotakis said.
The most crucial thing is not to offer some [temporary] relief but to turn ‘Next Generation EU’ into ‘Next Generation Hellas’,” he said in reference to the new joint budget and the fund.
He said the government would not give in to pressure from “vested interests competing about funds for low value-added projects.”
Pensions
The Greek premier also said that pensioners would receive 1.4 billion euros in retroactive payments. He said the one-off payment would be made by the end of 2020.
The Council of State, Greece’s top administrative court, earlier this month ruled that some pension cuts imposed in 2015-2016 were not in accordance with the law.
