Greece is taking over the EU Presidency not as a country in crisis but as a country in recovery, Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras said on January 7. Addressing a press conference, the minister said that Greece’s economic reform efforts had gone " better than expected" in 2013, and that the impact of the recession had been blunted. He added that Greek 10-year benchmark bond spreads fell below 600 basis points, reflecting the efforts made so far.

Stournaras stated that decisions over Greek debt should be taken during the Greek EU Presidency. "Eurostat will verify our primary surplus in April and then a discussion will begin immediately," he noted. Finally, Stournaras numbered the EU presidency’s goals in the financial sector: the promotion of a Single Restructuring Mechanism for banks, a directive to combat money laundering, the deepening of economic and monetary union, financial governance, representation in G20, long-term funding of economies and supporting small- and medium-sized enterprises.