A
nd the Greek presidency –like all other
presidencies, of course– has no room for
intervention or for adapting this semes-
ter’s targets to national priorities.
That said, what Greece could do, on the occasion
of the European presidency, would be to set a
parallel ambitious target, to rock the boat of the
“divine laws” of European Council policies and
the certainties of European institutions.
The huge publicity, as well as the gravity, of the
Greek problem in the context of the EU, has cre-
ated the necessary conditions for organizing a
major international event:
An international conference, whose main sub-
ject would be the way out of the crisis. A confer-
ence, where the prestige of the participants and
the painstaking preparation of the agenda, will
lead to conclusions that will make a substantial
contribution to the crucial talks of spring 2014.
This conference will put the great dilemmas
regarding Europe's future on the table and will
look for specific proposals and measures that
have to be taken.
It is my conviction that the survival and prosperity
of every European country passes through a
strong European Union, and this is where all
efforts should be directed at.
This conference would make a significant contri-
bution to the country and Europe, if it succeeded
in attracting some of the most important institutes
in Europe and the globe: Brooking, Bruegel,
Germany's DIW; the Nobel Laureates in
Economics of the past few years: Pissarides,
Krugman, Stiglitz, etc., present and former central
bankers, such as the governors of the Bank of
Japan, the Fed, the European central banks,
leading European statesmen, such as Jacques
Delors, Gerhard Schröder, Tony Blair, Mario
Monti, Romano Pronti, but also Bill Clinton and
the former prime minister of Singapore.
Personalities who, free from national interests,
would be called to speak about or, even better,
co-sign documents on policies leading to a
change of course and to Europe's revival.
The agenda of the conference should include:
Specific measures for exiting the economic crisis.
Trade with Greece
44
Greek Presidency and
European Challenge
By Anna Diamantopoulou, President of DIKTIO –
Network for Reform in Greece and Europe,
ex European Commissioner
The 5th Greek presidency will take place
under extremely harsh conditions in both
the European and national fronts. The
agenda has been determined and agreed
upon word by word.
