Agnes JONGERIUS (S&D, NL), Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, President of the Eurogroup, Nikolaos CHOUNTIS (GUE/NGL, EL), express themselves on Greece’s economic adjustment programme and the related Greek labour market reforms, during the meeting of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) in the EP in Brussels.

Exchange of views with Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, President of the Eurogroup: extracts from the meeting of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs

Arrival of Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, President of the Eurogroup, he takes the seat.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, President of the Eurogroup, The key issue for Greece at the moment is restoring confidence in the country as a whole and in the economy, but also in the administrative situation, the legal system, so that more and more investments will return to the country.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, President of the Eurogroup, If the programme is well on track, if the third review gets done in a very smooth way and it is completed by the end of the year, this usually feeds into confidence in Greece. People get a sense: ok, something is happening; finally, we are moving forward.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, President of the Eurogroup, Labour market reform, however, is a delicate balancing act, particularly in the context of a still fragile recovery. On the one hand, there is the crucial issue of the respect for workers&rsquo; social rights. On the other hand, there is the need to preserve flexibility and improve the relative attractiveness of labour as a production factor.

SOUNDBITE (English), Agnes JONGERIUS (S&amp;D, NL), The demand for the restoration of the collective bargaining in Greece would be our top top top priority. (...) I think we differ from the point of view whether or not the present state of play of the collective bargaining system is in line with the basic European fundamental rights and the ILO recommendations about collective bargaining.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, President of the Eurogroup, I agree very much with you that the restoration of collecting bargaining is a priority. It will come into effect at the end of the programme, so summer next year that can be fully restored. When we speak about modernised system, there is really only one element, this is about the representativeness of the parties involved that have come to the collective agreement.

SOUNDBITE (Greek), Nikolaos CHOUNTIS (GUE/NGL, EL), When it comes to collective agreements and mass dismissals and pension cuts, Commission tells us that the proposals are coming from the Greek government, is that the case? is that true?

SOUNDBITE (English), Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, President of the Eurogroup, The pensions reforms have been developed in close cooperation with the institutions and they have been in the summer of &rsquo;15 this was also one of the key topics when we negotiated the third programme. So, I was part of some of those talks. There have been truly a negotiation between the different parties. They were not put on the table or pushed by one party. They were indeed a negotiation to make the pension system sustainable and do it in a way which could be acceptable for Greeks.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, President of the Eurogroup, In August, we come to the end of the programme and from then on, Greece stands again fully on its own feet not just financially, but also in policy terms. There is no guarantee that reforms could be reversed, but I hope that there will be such strong effects by then in terms of growth and improvement that the motivation to continue what has been done will be strong.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, President of the Eurogroup, If there are again adverse shocks or under-performing of growth in Greece, we stand ready to do more to alleviate, to help the Greek debt issue. Work on that mechanism (for debt release), which is going to be very important for the coming decades, will start at the beginning of the year. And, hopefully, then in a very positive mood we will go towards the exit of the programme.

Exchange of views with Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, President of the Eurogroup: extracts from the meeting of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs

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