National governments and European authorities must jointly support sustainable growth, competitiveness,employment and social cohesion, along with safeguarding fiscal discipline, Alternate Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said in his intervention at the ECOFIN meeting on Monday. He explained that these policies should focus on education, research, innovation, new technologies and business, with respect to fiscal limitations. "Only this combination of fiscal discipline, growth and structural reforms can lead Europe out of the dire straits," the Greek minister said.

On Tuesday, the Greek Alternate Finance Minister briefed EU officials on the priorities of the Greek EU presidency, particularly on the issue of the European Union budget and on the progress of Greek economy.