H.E. Ms Diana Zagorianou-Prifti:

I thank the Chairman, Deputies and Senators for inviting me to the meeting and giving me the opportunity to describe the main goals and priorities of the Greek EU Presidency in the first half of 2014. Greece is the third and last country of the trio of Ireland, Lithuania and Greece to hold the Presidency. In July 2014 we will hand the Presidency over to Italy.

On 1 January 2014, Greece assumed for the fifth time the rotating Presidency of the EU Council. The budget of this Presidency is no more than €50 million, the lowest amount we could manage. During the Presidency, Greece will host, in Athens, 14 informal ministerial meetings plus the Gymnich informal ministerial meeting as well as approximately 110 other lower-level meetings. Greece assumes the Presidency at a time that Europe is going through an extremely delicate phase. We are all aware of the fact that the EU is in a deep crisis, and my country is in the middle of this. For years now we have talked about recession and unemployment in most of our countries. Naturally, as long as there is prosperity, things are always easier. On the contrary, economic problems often lead to intense internal division and conflicts and to the awakening of old, and considered obsolete, ideas and stereotypes. Thus, instead of integration and cohesion we risk having more distance between states and societies.

The extent of the debt crisis and of the associated recession and unemployment has undermined the confidence of EU citizens in the very idea of European integration. Disenchantment with the European integration process is growing. Furthermore, social cohesion has suffered enormously, in particular in the countries where the effects of the crisis have been more pronounced. We have to deal with a wave of euroscepticism and we should try hard to convince anyone concerned that the solution lies on more, not on less, Europe. To overcome the hiatus, Europe needs to move forward, not backward. We need more European integration, not less. Moreover, we need good jobs and sustainable growth and we must ensure that our policies are aligned with this popular demand. These aspirations are shared by the Hellenic Presidency. We formulated our political priorities in order to reflect and serve these goals. Ultimately, our hope is to contribute to the reaffirmation of the European project at the hearts and minds of the people of Europe.

Our challenge is to ensure prosperity and stability; for this the EU must reaffirm its mission in the hearts and minds of its citizens. We are called upon to tackle the economic and financial crisis, to safeguard the common currency, to tackle recession and unemployment and to regain the trust of European citizens to safeguard the European social model of democracy and the rule of law - elements that until recently were taken for granted, but have been put to the test by the crisis.

The period of the Hellenic Presidency will also be pivotal in Greece, at a time when the first signs of an exit from the crisis are becoming discernable. It is a crisis that has cost the Greek economy a cumulative recession of 25% of GDP, with unemployment rates mushrooming, particularly for the young, and in which the average Greek has lost 40% of their living standard compared with 2007. Thanks to the persistent efforts and sacrifices of the Greek people, Greece has taken major strides in the direction of fiscal health, showing the best structural - that is, cyclically adjusted - primary surplus in the eurozone, at over 6% of GDP, and has also achieved a deficit reduction of 13% of current GDP. There are good grounds for optimism that the six months of the Hellenic Presidency will coincide with the recovery of Greece's real economy.

The main principles which will guide the work of the Presidency can be summarised as follows: enhancing civic and society engagement in the EU, with the ultimate goal of the development of the EU into a community of shared values and "common destiny" for all its citizens, while preserving and strengthening the European model; deepening the Union, especially economic and monetary union, EMU - the aim remains to safeguard the irrevocability of the common currency, on a solid and sustainable basis; and reinforcing EU democratic legitimacy and accountability along with collectivity and solidarity links among member states, as well as incrementally constructing European democracy and expanding civil rights. Briefly, the promotion of policies and measures for achieving growth, combating unemployment, promoting economic and social cohesion and structural reforms, deepening integration and completion of EMU, as well as addressing external challenges, including EU enlargement, formulate the priority framework of the Hellenic Presidency.

With regard to growth, jobs and cohesion, unemployment has reached record high rates in most EU member states, affecting the young in particular, and recession is a constant threat to European economies.

In this context, growth is considered to be a driving force for a sustainable way out of the crisis because it is expected to create jobs, strengthen political stability, correct social imbalances and, ultimately, reinforce European cohesion. From the Greek perspective, jobs and growth are structurally and inextricably connected. Initiatives and actions for halting unemployment and boosting job creation are absolutely necessary in order to avert the danger of jobless growth. The main objective is to balance the timetable of fiscal consolidation with the implementation of a substantially enhanced and realistic compact for growth and jobs, which can be transformed into a diverse European investment programme, modelled after the cohesion policy and with a focus on employment.

Striking the right balance between fiscal solidity and an effort to boost growth is considered to be the catalyst for achieving the necessary cohesion among national economic policies and hence among European societies. It is such a cohesion that constitutes the foundation of further European integration, which is the second priority of the Greek Presidency. The European Investment Bank, EIB, can play a strong role in respect of labour-intensive projects - for example, projects relating to SMEs, basic infrastructure, energy and climate - with the support and trust of the European Central Bank, ECB. One specific way to boost European growth would be to significantly increase the lending capacity of the EIB to finance expanded investments, particularly in the countries most affected by the crisis. The whole movement must essentially be backed by the EIB. This ambitious investment programme will qualify targeted actions, especially in countries which register alarmingly high levels in all four social indicators - unemployment, youth unemployment, social exclusion and poverty - with an emphasis on SMEs. The latter are a source of innovation and employment and an important factor for economic growth and social cohesion in the EU, mostly in the European south. In any event, it would be useful to launch a dialogue on those specific subject areas that offer high growth potential and, at the same time, job creation. I refer here to innovation, services to firms, transport, shipping and tourism. A Commission White Paper on that matter in the coming months could be the springboard for this project. European leaders have decided to strengthen efforts to combat youth unemployment and to endorse the joint EIB-Commission initiative - entitled "Investment Plan" - to finance SMEs as the key employers in the European economy.

I will now comment on further integration of the EU-eurozone. The global financial crisis revealed the great extent to which the fiscal policies of the eurozone member states are intertwined. Furthermore, it made clear the absence of preventive and corrective structures in the original economic and monetary union architecture, which would absorb the shocks within member states and deter any threat to the macroeconomic stability of the euro area. The course towards a deep and genuine economic and monetary union requires an integrated financial, fiscal and economic framework. In this economic and monetary union, member states, with the assistance and co-ordination of the European institutions, would be able to implement their reform programmes, with focused actions on the specific needs and conditions of each member state. This exercise should be consistent with and devote special attention to the social dimension and the democratic legitimacy and accountability of the new economic and monetary union. In this framework, progress on the following building blocks will be emphasised.

First, the promotion of the banking union. This remains essential to the improved functioning of the EMU and a prerequisite for increased confidence in the European economy. The Hellenic Presidency will strive to reach agreement on the Commission's most recent proposal on the single resolution mechanism, SRM. Depending on recent progress, we may face other issues that seem ripe for agreement, namely, the banking recovery, the resolution directive and the deposit guarantee directive. There is also special interest in promoting, as a matter of urgency - given the small legislative period until the elections for the European Parliament - issues concerning tax fraud and evasion, as well as the financial transactions tax.

The second building block relates to agreement on the principles of the reinforced budgetary and economic integration frameworks. The aim is to ensure the effective implementation and further integration of new EU-eurozone economic governance mechanisms in order to enhance synergies between member states in a growth and jobs-friendly way. In deepening the economic and monetary union, we will strive to lay the foundations of an ever-prosperous, well co-ordinated model, with the correct balance between solidity and solidarity and the necessary institutional autonomy of its members. Our work will be guided by Herman Van Rompuy's roadmap and the Commission's blueprint. This new eurozone should fully respect the Single Market and remain open to non-euro area member states.

The third aspect relates to special emphasis being attached to the social dimension of the economic and monetary union as one of the pillars for further deepening that union. It cannot be overstated that special emphasis will be attached to the social dimension of the economic and monetary union as one of the pillars for its further deepening. At the same time, we will need to lay the foundations for an institutional structure that will ensure enhanced transparency, accountability and representation in respect of the entire exercise. This dimension entails particular importance as an answer to the demographic and fiscal crisis of the European welfare state.

On migration, borders and mobility, instability on the European periphery, together with the perseverance of the causes that lead to immigration flows into Europe, increase these flows and place an extra burden on EU member states in a period of economic crisis. This burden falls mainly on the EU member states located on Europe's external borders to the east and, to a large extent, the south, as well as on those heavily affected by recession and unemployment. Coincidentally, on occasion some EU countries fall into both of these categories. In this context, the Hellenic Presidency will concentrate its efforts on highlighting the positive aspects of a comprehensive migration management in order to boost growth. In addition, it will spare no effort in promoting all dimensions of migration and mobility policies. At the same time, action is envisaged to tackle the problems arising in the context of the economy, social cohesion and political stability as a result of illegal migration. More specifically, within the framework of the EU's global approach to migration, the relevant EU policies and the union's co-operation with third countries, our approach has three main aims: to stop or reduce illegal migration in an efficient way, while safeguarding respect for human rights; to improve and better organise legal migration and facilitate mobility; and to enhance synergies between migration and growth. Special emphasis will be placed on fighting illegal migration, with a focus on readmission and return, as well as on fighting human trafficking and building institutional capacities for better border management in the process of updating the EU action plan for tackling migration pressure. Our main objective will be to contribute to building a comprehensive approach to border management, while reinforcing preventive actions in third countries of origin and transit of illegal immigrants. Such an approach will be to the benefit of all EU member states.