We have absolute sufficiency in the market, assured the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, during his introductory position in the cabinet, noting at the same time that the controls in the market will be intensive, in order to prevent any phenomenon of profiteering.
The position of the Prime Minister in detail:
Good morning.
It has been a month since our last meeting and unfortunately the war in Ukraine continues to have painful consequences everywhere. Blood on the fronts, refugees at the border and an energy storm with price explosions all over the world.
I would say that the last difficult waves of the pandemic are now joining those of the Russian invasion, forming an unprecedented climate of international concern for an unpredictable, very aggressive tomorrow.
As we have said many times, global problems require global settlements, but at the same time they require important national interventions. And this is the double path that our country follows.
At European level, as you know, the gradual but at the same time drastic replacement of Russian gas by other sources of supply has already begun. And in this new energy map that is being formed in the Eastern Mediterranean, our country has the opportunity to play a leading role.
On the table is the Greek proposal for joint supply and storage of natural gas on behalf of all the Member States of the European Union. And the first decisions taken in conciliation between the European Union and the United States show that this is a choice that can have tangible, effective and rapid results.
Also on the table is the really complex process of controlling the wholesale price of gas which, in the end, is what determines the prices of electricity in all European countries.
That is why individual moves, such as national ceilings on the price of electricity, ultimately lead only to the burden on national budgets.
In other words, the increases are returned to the citizens through other charges. Because what the opposition liars are hiding is that national interventions ultimately cost the countries’s public coffers, eventually forcing them to resort to new taxes.
As far as the profits of the energy companies are concerned, I was the first to announce their extraordinary taxation at a rate of 90%. However, the amounts that will be taxed, can not come out of the hat of every demagogue, must first be clearly calculated by the Independent Regulatory Authority, RAE, and must be calculated correctly, with profits, taxes and discounts which have been given. And this is exactly how it will be done.
Our government has shown, moreover, that it has no ideological obsessions, does not hesitate to act in favor of the citizen and to regulate, where necessary, the impunity of the markets. In this way we think and act, even if we surprise our political opponents here and there.
However, given the European speeds in the maturation of decisions, we are also moving autonomously. Measures against imported inflation now reach almost 4 billion euros. They continue in four directions:
Enhancing the income of the weakest with the emergency aid of 200 euros which will be given before Easter, to cover a significant part of the increase in electricity prices, with the subsidy of fuel and of course with special provisions for small and medium enterprises, for the farmers, for our transport.
It is obviously impossible to absorb all the increases that have their cause far from our homeland, but the support interventions – for which we have already made decisions – are among the most dynamic and multi-layered in all of Europe.
To these will be added others for market sufficiency, for some imports from warring countries, which will now have to be sought elsewhere or produced here as well, such as for the cultivation of sunflowers for sunflower oil, which is currently is in great demand. We could cultivate more than 300 thousand acres, which are in set-aside status.
As for the additional support of our producers, especially in terms of fertilizers and feed, there will be specific announcements in this area in the coming days. I will give the floor – before our meeting starts – to the Minister of Rural Development to give us a brief information on issues related to the primary sector.
For now, however, there are two certainties. Firstly, we have full market adequacy and secondly, market controls will be intensive to prevent any scandal.
Already, the first fines have fallen and as you know they are ‘stingy’. The current difficulties, however, do not stop our great strategic cuts.
Bill for universities
Today we have a more limited agenda. But we have a very important bill. A bill for the quality, substantial upgrade of our universities. The Minister of Education, Niki Kerameos, will present it to us shortly.
They are very important regulations that give weight on the one hand to the quality of studies and on the other hand to their connection with the labor market. They emphasize the cooperation of institutions with each other, but also with organizations abroad.
While, finally, the big issue of the recognition of foreign degrees is solved in a drastic way, which will no longer be done with individual applications, but on the basis of a single register, which will be compiled with clear scientific criteria.
This unbearable suffering of DOATAP is finally coming to an end, with important interventions that will be voted on in this bill.
There are many bold changes in the bill. I do not want to prejudge what the Minister will say. Personally, I support the removal of barriers between the departments, between the faculties. What we call the in-house Erasmus program, if we can enable a production engineer to take philosophy classes, we can broaden our students’ knowledge.
This is a very important innovation that we are introducing. As important is the internship of professional postgraduates.
All this will become bridges between the degree and the future career of the graduates. I also point out the strengthening of research by inviting visiting professors from abroad, the establishment of joint centers between universities.
All these are very important measures which have as their main concern the upgrading of the quality of studies. Our gaze is first and foremost on the student. We serve him and we have an obligation: the public education system to provide rewarding degrees, which will prepare the student for the complexity of a world that is constantly changing.
Education has always been in our country, public education, a basic belt of social mobility. It must provide everyone with real supplies of progress. And I would say that it is also a field in which liberal thought is finally tested against the doctrine of fixation. And that’s why this reform cut is so important.
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