ΓΡΑΦΕΙΟ ΤΥΠΟΥ ΠΡΩΘΥΠΟΥΡΓΟΥ
Σάββατο,
6 Δεκεμβρίου 2014
Dear members of EPP’s Youth, dear young entrepreneurs,
Your presence here today, is a hope for all of us. For all us Europeans,
who are - you are right - agonizing over fighting economic stagnation that is
presenting a real threat to our societies.
And as the President have rightly so pointed out, this has been even
more so, since we have been striving for six consecutive, long and painful
years of a very deep recession only coming out of it to recovery very recently.
Just think of it, a country that is in a recession for six years, that has an
unemployment level that reached its peak last September, 28%, 60% among the
Youth, a country that lost, during the crisis something like 28% of its GDP. We
are now back. We have surpluses, both in our budget and in our current account.
Last quarter, although it sounds like an oxymoron, it is true, according to Eurostat
statistics, Greece had the biggest growth in the Eurozone area, hoping to have
something like 2,9% in 2015 real growth. So, the sacrifices were huge, but we
believe the crisis will be shortly over.
So for us, Greeks, the presence of so many young Europeans today and so
many young and successful entrepreneurs, is a powerful confirmation of this
hope. And a reassurance that gives meaning to all the hardships we have gone
through and all the efforts we have undertaken. Yes, at last things are changing
our way!
Youth entrepreneurship is, indeed, an avenue for growth.
I have to be blunt, I know who I am talking to and I think we are all aware that our growth model
in the last decades has become obsolete. And in some cases I may say it, it has even gone bankrupt.
And here, we have discovered it as a painful fact. Because, we went
through a complete failure and we are now trying hard to overcome it and
replace it.
Therefore, it is true to say that everybody in Europe is basically raising the same question:
How are our economies going to grow from now on?
And how are our societies going to prosper in the years to come?
Here in Greece, we have already answered this question. And we really
believe that there is only one solid, long-term answer: by setting our house in
order, so that fiscal deficits will never paralyze us again and so that we will
never suffocate under a mountain of uncontrolled debt, that was becoming bigger
and bigger and bigger every year! And further on, by implementing structural
reforms and by that I mean terminating bureaucracy, being able to provide both
to your people and to foreign investors a “red carpet” treatment in the public
sector, instead of a “red tape” treatment. That was our case. Eliminate all kinds of distortions,
sweep away all wide-spread unfair privileges so that we can guarantee the
rights for all to jobs, opportunities, knowledge and entrepreneurship.
So we have chosen to change our country through competitiveness
enhancing reforms, bringing extroversion, which also goes with our character,
stable jobs, sustainable growth and prosperity.
Or, to put it differently, we have chosen to make the most out of our
competitive or comparative if you wish, advantages
and our idle national wealth, generating opportunities and welfare for all.
And now that I mention the word “competitiveness”: what is the most
precious and most promising competitive advantage of Europe?
Don’t look it up too far…
It is our human capital! Our peoples in Europe!
Together with this immense accumulated experience and knowledge and technology,
together with our various cultural traditions of quality: quality of life,
quality of thinking, quality of producing, quality of transcending, the
ordinary and going to the original. Transcending is an incredible word. And
there is an ancient Greek word but this one is a Latin one “transcandentia”.
Others have cheap working force. Others have more
abundant and cheap resources, including energy resources. But we, Europeans,
enjoy the blessing of being in the front run of scientific research,
technological breakthroughs, pioneering ideas, revolutionary applications,
top-notch research, a very rich and diverse cultural background and well
established democratic traditions. In short, we are societies with peoples, well
trained, well educated, free and productive, as well as institutions able to
make the most out of our intelligence and human nature.
So our most powerful competitive advantage in Europe
is our human capital and a stable democratic environment that allows us to make
the most out of it.
And you, the youth of Europe, are the heirs of this
precious legacy.
So just look all around you. The most competing
advantage of Europe is best represented in this auditorium: by young people who
have rejected populism, who have rejected statism, who have rejected extremism;
young people who believe in themselves, who they believe in the potential of
private enterprise, of “thinking out of the box” and bringing about novelty.
And at the same time, I know you are strong believers and staunch supporters of
timeless ideals such as social responsibility, Freedom and Justice.
So young people like you can make the difference! You
are the only ones who can pull us out from the old habits, who can transcend
old mentalities and obsolete growth models of the past; so that we can bring
and we will bring Europe to the next day, on the epicenter of world
developments and on the front line of progress.
I think that you all believe and I have seen it. I
have lived it. There is not progress in spreading around privileges to the few
that will be paid by anyone else and there is no “growth” in distributing money
that you haven’t earned.
Growth can give
and guarantee opportunities for all, so that everyone has a chance to move
ahead; to offer and guarantee security, stability, access to knowledge, access
to job opportunities, access to capital and access to the markets, so that
everybody can become a master of his or her fate.
I think that growth is to construct and maintain also
the infrastructures and the networking necessary for every member of the
society to improve his position, to show his or her talents, exercise his or
her freedoms, capitalize on everything that he can capitalize on.
And of course, on the other hand, I strongly
believe that we do need what is called a safety net, for the weak and for the
needy. And of course we must also offer what has not been the case in Greece
for decades, unfortunately, it has been the case in other countries in Europe,
not in Greece. We should also offer a second chance to those who were
unfortunate. Our societies are held together with strong solidarity ties and
should never leave anyone behind.
And I believe this is our notion of social Justice
that is offering the opportunity of prosperity to all members of this society.
So that everyone has a chance to stand up on his or her feet and take control
of his or her life. We cannot afford any mind to be wasted; we cannot allow any
brilliant idea, any talent to be wasted. But we can also not afford to leave
anyone on the sidelines.
So this Freedom of the Human Soul and the Brilliance
of the Human Mind can only flourish in a context of Freedom and Social
responsibility. So these are ours, yours ideals, these are the fundamental
premises of the social market economy, which we are all proud to know that this
is our ideology.
But any ideology, no matter how attractive nationally,
no matter how well articulated theoretically, is little or is nothing, without
the people who believe in it, live by it and make it part of the real world.
So to come back to Greece, let me remind you that not so long ago, when
everything around us seemed dark and hopeless, some young people, moved “against the current”! When others were
leaving, or were contemplating of changing their lives totally and leaving the
country, there were those few, inspired
idealists, who did the opposite: they
moved in! They undertook serious initiatives when most were quitting. And they made, believe me, real miracles, when many others were just waiting for everything to collapse…
These miracles have a name: they are called start-ups!
Those start-ups are now
multiplying and spreading around; they attract the attention of big
international firms, some of them have been already sold to well known
multinationals; and I am proud to say that, those Greek start-ups that started
up at the lowest possible level of the biggest recession ever, in peace time.
There has never been a recession and an unemployment level at peace time, ever
in the world, as the one we had to go through. So, they are now praised by the
international press, giving us both hope and pride.
During a severe crisis, it is only natural, all people have good reasons
to be angry, to be protesting, to be bitter and gravely disappointed…
But the young Greeks, who at such a critical moments took it to their
hands and became entrepreneurs, went against the current and against widespread misery. They moved ahead,
they dared, they generated income, wealth and hope. And they won all the way.
And I believe this is the only way to become a leader, through the best possible
way to lead: by providing the example to everyone else!
They opened up a new road for everyone to try; in Greece and beyond
Greece.
And I am proud to say that start-ups are now part of your EPP agenda!
And I am proud to say that our
Youth Party Organization, ONNED, now holding the Presidency of the EPP Youth,
indeed played a pivotal role in the surfacing and the first steps of start-ups
in Greece. I am sure they can share with all of you this unique experience. You
should really talk to these start-upers, the ones that pioneered the whole
experiment and made a spectacular success out of it.
Now concluding, allow me for a last remark; I don’t want to call it a
piece of advice, I never do this:
Always remember that when we are talking about “mistakes” that we have
to fix, we are talking about the lives. And usually, lives of older people, of previous generations…
But when we are talking about the future and how to fix past mistakes,
we are talking about your lives. Because you are the future!
So, you can be as critical as you wish for us, the “old guys”.
But, there is just one thing you have to do: don’t repeat those
mistakes!
This is what finally progress
is all about: preserving what’s good and worthy, while correcting what has already
failed.
We believe in you, we believe in our youth. I am sure that this trust in
you, will be fully justified, always provided
that you believe in yourselves.
So I welcome you in Greece, I wish you a happy stay here and every
success in your work.
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