T
he decisions regarding the supervision
and integration of the banking systems of
the 27 member states, as well as those
regarding the deepening of the European ideal,
are on top of the agenda, with the prime minister,
Antonis Samaras, focusing on growth, as well as
on combating unemployment, especially among
young people. Given that no macroeconomic
objective can be achieved unless the problems of
the real economy are solved, the Greek side is,
first and foremost, seeking certain interventions in
the proper redistribution of community funds and,
at the same time, the rapprochement between
Trade with Greece
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older and newer members of the EU, whose rela-
tionships are being severely tested during the
past six-years.
In contrast to the four previous presidencies, which
were undertaken at favourable economic conjunc-
tures, this six-month presidency is considered to
be the most crucial, as the country is putting in a
huge effort to maintain its regained international
reliability and make a dynamic comeback on the
global stage. The degree of difficulty of this ven-
ture will be much higher during the first quarter,
when all institutional decisions of the EU have to
be taken, due to May’s Euro-elections, and, as a
Harbouring the hope, but also possessing the hard data that
show, that the deep economic crisis is entering a reversal
stage, Greece is about to assume its fifth presidency of the EU.
By Dimitris Giannakopoulos
The Previous
Greek Presidencies
of the EU
