Greece`s new government

The members of Greece’s new government were unveiled yesterday afternoon, following a meeting among Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Evangelos Venizelos and Fotis Kouvelis -the respective leaders of PASOK and Democratic Left- that support the coalition government. The new government consists of 39 members of which 25 are New Democracy party deputies and 14 members are non-elected technocrats.

 

Non Executive Chairman of the Board of the National Bank of Greece and University of Athens Professor Vassilis Rapanos has been appointed Economy and Finance Minister; Dimitris Avramopoulos is  the new Foreign Minister, and Kostis Hatzidakis, Development, Infrastructure, Transport and Networks Minister.

 

The members of the new government were sworn in  in the presence of Hellenic Republic President Karolos Papoulias and Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, with the exception of the Finance Ministry’s leadership. Addressing the first Cabinet meeting, the new PM said that the government, which has full power as stipulated by the Constitution ,”has no grace period.” He also announced a 30% cut in the ministers’ salaries.

 

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)

Informal meeting of ECOFIN Council (Wrocław, 16-17/9/2011) – Participation of Greek Finance Minister, E. Venizelos

Government Vice-President and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos attended informal Eurogroup and Ecofin meetings in Wroclaw, Poland, on September 16-17. Speaking to reporters following the meetings, Venizelos said he briefed the Council over decisions taken by the Greek government to achieve fiscal targets for 2011 and 2012, and towards reaching primary budget surplus the soonest possible.

Venizelos said that it is a common position within the Eurozone that all decisions taken during the July 21 EU Summit must be fully implemented and stressed that “an international environment has been fuelling uncertainty, which affects the implementation of Eurozone decisions and our policies’ performance, ones aimed at dealing with the debt crisis. This vicious circle must end.” 

Meanwhile, following a meeting of the governmental committee in Athens, yesterday, chaired by Prime Minister George Papandreou , Venizelos said that the Government takes full responsibility for the implementation of the agreed programme, but this responsibility must be also taken by all European institutions, all member-states, because the July decisions, the decisions of the European Council have an existential significance for the Euro Area.

Polish EU Presidency: Presidency Communique on the informal meeting of the ECOFIN Council
(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)