Development and Competitiveness Minister Kostis Hatzidakis took part in an informal interministerial conference on industrial policy in Rome on January 29. Hatzidakis underlined that industrial competitiveness was a top priority for the Greek EU presidency and reiterated PM Samaras’ commitment in BusinessEurope Day to reboot industrial policy. He also welcomed the Commission’s intention to introduce legal instruments for streamlining business start-up processes at EU level.

He also argued that the Competitiveness Council role should be upgraded and added that the examination of an industrial pact to be adopted in the upcoming European Council (March, 2014) should also be a top priority.