The Group of Socialists & Democrats want a renegotiation of the scheme for the repayment of the public debt of Greece and urgent measures for economic recovery

 

The Group of Socialists & Democrats in the European Parliament took a formal position on Greece’s debt crisis during the plenary session in Strasbourg. The topic will be one of the main of the preparatory meeting of the Heads of States and Prime Ministers from PES before the European Council meeting on the 12th of February.

 

The position states: “The Group of Socialists and Democrats and the PES family have a unique opportunity and obligation to help in finding a fair and progressive political solution to the crisis in Greece. Common plan for reform and stabilization of the country is needed, which will replace the current plan for debt repayment, made by the Troika. The plan should be made by the European Commission and the Council under the supervision of the European Parliament, and to meet the expectations of the Greek people, while being acceptable to all Member States. Urgent measures to stabilize the market and prevent a deepening of the financial crisis are needed. We call on the European Central Bank to provide additional liquidity to the Greek banks”

 

“At the elections in Greece the people voted against policies imposed by the Troika, with which the socialists have fought for years. It is necessary an urgent plan to tackle the crisis in Greece, whose deb is more than 170% of the GDP” said on the topic the MEP Sergei Stanishev.

 

According to the Group of Socialists & Democrats in the European Parliament, the plan must contain a list of progressive reforms and measures to increase investments which will contribute to the economic growth of the country. To stimulate investments, they propose to maximize the potential of the new European fund for strategic investments, as well as the Youth Guarantee to cope with the over 50% unemployment among the young people in the country.

 

The socialists insist the scheme for the repayment of the Greek government debt to be renegotiated and seek optimal version that does not jeopardize the integrity of the Eurozone. According to hem, the Investment plan for Europe and the introduction of flexibility in the rules of the Pact for Stability and Growth are great achievements of the left family, and are an important step for economic recovery, but not sufficient to ensure the sustainability of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMIU) for future crises. The socialists in the European Parliament see the completion of EMU as a key priority for 2015