Prospects
Prime Minister Costas Simitis’s error is the same as the one made by the former Portuguese socialist prime minister, Antonio Gutteres. Gutteres overlooked the fact that it is not enough to become an EMU member and give euros to your fellow citizens. It’s not enough to receive funds from the Third Community Support Framework (CSF III). One has to do more than that. Above all, prime ministers have to ensure future prospects. These are not guaranteed by the construction of 10 football stadiums by 2004 – like the ones promised by Portugal’s socialists. Similarly, they are not guaranteed by the potential glory of Athens’s Olympic-related projects. What we need is courageous and radical measures, such as those that Durao Barroso, the conservative winner of the Portuguese elections, put at the top of his agenda: the reduction of the maximum tax rate to 20 percent… and at the same time a thorough inspection of public enterprises’ account books. Another issue is setting up a legislative framework to regulate relations between politicians, businessmen, media barons and soccer club owners. It is no coincidence that the majority of Portuguese businessmen have, for over a year, complained about delays in promoting the projects under CSF III… and have laid emphasis on the economic difficulties created by the return to old-style socialist reflexes which held back growth in the early years of the previous decade. Similar stagnation and lack of political courage are also to be found amid Greece’s ruling politicians.
