“Competitiveness must be paired with more and better-paid jobs and lower prices if we are to tackle the cost-of-living crisis,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Thursday morning, Feb. 12, as he arrived at the informal European Summit in Belgium.
He highlighted that the climate crisis is the central focus of the extraordinary European Council meeting set to begin shortly.
Mitsotakis explained that Greece would participate in the discussions with a set of concrete proposals aimed at reducing European bureaucracy, improving the functioning of the single market, and ensuring that competitiveness ultimately benefits both businesses and European consumers.
The prime minister warned that competitiveness alone is an abstract concept if it is not accompanied by more and better-paying jobs, as well as lower prices in the European market to address rising costs. He stressed that without these measures, securing social support—essential for critical policy decisions—would be difficult.
Mitsotakis also indicated that the summit would allow him to focus more on energy market issues, which he described as underperforming across the European Union. He argued for greater integration of the EU energy market to achieve lower energy prices for both consumers and businesses across Europe.
