Looking ahead: Europe's development and solidarity

SPEECH BY PRIME MINISTER GEORGE A. PAPANDREOU IN CELEBRATION OF THE DAY OF GERMAN INDUSTRY ON: "Looking ahead: Europe's development and solidarity " IN BERLIN « Ladies and gentlemen, President Keitel, thank you for your warm welcome. Thank you for your invitation. Thank you for the honour to speak at your conference. We are living through a very difficult and complex crisis, in the world, in Europe and of course in Greece. And so many people in Greece ask me: Is all the pain worthwhile? Can we make it? Will we reach, all together, Ithaca, or will this be a Sisyphean task, to allude to ancient mythology? Is there any hope? Will we ultimately succeed? My answer is yes, we can. Greece has the potential. Europe has the potential. And through global cooperation, we all have the capability to turn this crisis into an opportunity for real and necessary change. After the crash of 2008, governments and multilateral institutions came to the rescue of our banks and our economies. However, we did not solve the underlying problems of our global economic system, problems like the lack of transparency in financial markets, weak governance of our interdependent economies, particularly in the eurozone. And yet paradoxically what the markets are now looking for is stronger political leadership, to restore confidence. Greece has been struggling for the past two years, not simply to reduce its deficits but to regain its confidence, confidence in the markets, confidence in itself. My government has not shied away from self-criticism. We have been brutally honest about the political and economic failings that led us to the current crisis. We know that this crisis, on the other hand, provides us a unique opportunity to launch important reforms, which we are doing, that Greece badly needed to become competitive again. That is why the rescue plan for Greece is not only to keep us afloat. It is an investment in a different Greece, a Greece that is confronting problems that were overlooked for decades. We have passed unprecedented reforms in a matter of months. Yes, we are making this crisis an opportunity. And I can assure you that your investment in Greece will not keep us stuck in the past. It is an investment to move Greece into the future. What is Greece’s future? Well, let me begin with what we must change from the past. First of all, Greece does have great potential. We are not a poor country. We were a mismanaged country. So total transparency and accountable governance are our priorities. Let me give you an example. Every single euro spent by the government is now published online for every citizen to see. When we computerised medical prescriptions for one pension fund a few months ago, we had a decrease in costs by over 35%. With our first electronic procurement of medical equipment, we cut the final bill to one-sixth of the estimated costs. But we still have much to do, and this is a project very complex and time-consuming. That is why I have asked