G. Gerapetritis: ‘We will constantly intervene to mitigate the consequences for the vulnerable’

The commitment that the government will constantly intervene in order to mitigate the consequences for the vulnerable, underlined the Minister of State George Gerapetritis, in an interview with the radio station “Sky”, while for the political scenarios he stressed that “the country needs a stable government will be able to stand in Europe “.

Starting, in detail, from “why now” the mining investigations are accelerating, the Minister of State argued that “last year was not the best financial option to do mining”, given that “we had low international gas prices and a high cost marine mining “. Now, however, “things have changed dramatically. The huge rise in gas prices again puts the need for extraction both for reasons of stock security and for reasons related to price sustainability. “Russia seemed economically unattractive, today it appears relatively necessary,” he concluded.

“The areas that are selected are selected on the basis of very strict environmental criteria, there is no way to cause an unfavorable environmental stigma,” he said. all environmental standards will be strictly adhered to “.

Asked if the government is finally oriented towards imposing a ceiling on fuel prices, also in the wholesale of electricity, he replied that yes “there are many possibilities”, on the other hand “there are no magic solutions. If they existed, they would have already been introduced from the European Union and we would have solved our problem “.

In addition, he added, interventions have been made that reduce, as far as possible, the energy costs of households and businesses and which have cost about 2 billion in recent months. Recognizing, however, that these interventions “are not enough” and that “the great burden that citizens receive is obvious”, he explained that “not all costs can be absorbed, as this would upset our fiscal balance”, with consequences for the secondary market. bonds, the country’s lending and ultimately to the citizens themselves.

In addition, “the ceiling on the final price of products is a very difficult exercise. Citizens themselves will pay the excess of this amount,” he argued, arguing that “intervening in the wholesale market as a more important, effective and functional” move. – “there is the crucial to intervene”, he stated characteristically and “there lies the proposal of the Greek government to the EU, which is currently being discussed by the bodies of the European Commission”.

“We will constantly intervene to mitigate the consequences for the vulnerable, thus boosting the income of the vulnerable,” he said, adding that “we will wait for EU intervention in the structured energy market and then “We will intervene there. At the same time we will try to boost the real income of the citizens,” he said, recalling that on May 1, the minimum wage will be increased. Asked specifically about the solutions favored by the governments of the Iberian Peninsula, he noted that “if it was a ‘magic solution’ what Spain and Portugal are implementing, the other 25 EU countries would have implemented it.”

Alarm throughout Europe

Commenting on the outcome of the first round of the French presidential election, he stressed that “an alarm is sounding all over Europe. When there is such a great economic crisis, which directly affects the people, it is obviously much easier to can come “.

He continued: “All governments are under a lot of pressure right now, although the people understand that there are no magic solutions and what has happened is beyond the reach of any government. No one could. predict this change in energy market prices, no one could predict the war, no one could have a picture of where things would go in the short term. their dissatisfaction “, despite government actions and initiatives.

Reiterating that “we will continue to support households and businesses trying to cover part of the energy increases”, G. Gerapetritis insisted that “if this burden continues, we will have the necessary intervention-reinforcement in May. “As far as the structure of the markets is concerned, we will obviously wait for the decisions of the European Council in May.”

Stable governance

Asked about the electoral-post-election scenarios, he pointed out that “the country needs a stable government that can stand in Europe, be able to cross national lines to the institutions of European institutions and to other international fora. On the other hand on the inside, to be able to organize a direct policy, to strengthen the vulnerabilities in terms of accuracy or energy.At the same time, however, to be able to build tomorrow which is gas, mining, nodes, LNG, the storage-transport, but also the day after tomorrow which is the renewable energy sources and the transition to the green economy “.

“At some point, we have to think in more institutional and less political terms. Yes, it might have been more appropriate to hold elections today or if they had already taken place,” he said, “but there is something beyond that. this – and this is the institutions “.

According to the Minister of State, “the simple analog unfortunately is not the system that ensures government stability, the complete opposite happens”. On the contrary, “the law that will be applied in the next elections is a very balanced law, a law that combines the strengthening of the first party with its percentage on a national scale, has an element of proportionality – representativeness, but on the other hand also gives a strengthening in the direction of stable governments “.

In conclusion, “autonomy is a legitimate aim solely to ensure governmental stability” – and “one-party governments are by definition stable. that is, a heterogeneous mix of political formations that have nothing in common except the occasional seizure of power is disastrous, “he said, referring to the five years before the New Democracy took over government responsibility.

After all, he clarified, “the Constitution is structured in such a way as to ensure that there are no deadlocks, we must always find a golden balance between the need for representativeness and the need for stability.”

But, he concluded, “especially in times of crisis we must have stable governments. I am convinced that with the electoral law that will be implemented in the next elections, the Greek citizens, the electorate, will trust the government to continue the work that has begun.” . He concluded by saying that he did not share the concern of some that the ruling party would not achieve its electoral goals, but “we do not have the arrogance that if the electorate does not give self-confidence to the current government, we will lead to a dead end. there are ways out, there are program agreements, it is not something that can be ruled out “.

Source: AMPE