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Schinas: Greece has taken 'one more step toward normality' and growth

Greece has taken "one more step toward normality" and is steadily moving toward growth that the European Commission is determined to support, EC spokesperson Margaritis Schinas told the newspaper 'Nea Selida' in an interview published on Sunday.

Schinas hailed the conclusion of the second review and the decision of the June 15 Eurogroup, based on which the European Commission will provide both funds and technical support to decisively boost this economic recovery.
The closing the excessive deficit procedure combined with the recovery of the European economy, a dramatic increase in tourism flows and the national economy's constantly improving competitiveness will ensure Greece's course toward growth, he said.
Schinas also highlighted the importance of completing structural reforms to the state and economy, noting that this could be the country's "last chance" to correct the problems and distortions of the past, "many of which benefited the haves at the expense of the unemployed and the weak." The more convincing the structural changes over the next 12 months, the clearer Greece's future after August 2018 will become, he added.
Asked about the future of the EU, Schinas said this discussion had begun with the presentaion of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's White Paper last March and also welcomed the start of a decision on closer economic and monetary union. Now that Europe's economy was picking up, it was important to move swiftly and correct any flaws, putting more emphasis on 'economic' and not just 'monetary', he added.
"To complete economic union, we must complete banking union and look again at the euro's representation," he said.