" There is obviously no ‘magic way’ to converge with Europe ‘with one law and one article’-I think everyone understands that. We need to grow at rates higher than Europe’s, and everything we do must rest on solid foundations. Because it would be very easy to say that we too are giving more money, granting larger increases. But those would fuel inflation, and we would end up chasing our own tail. We tried that recipe before, and it ultimately led us to bankruptcy. So whatever we do must be based on solid foundations,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in an interview on the podcast ‘We Will Notify You’, with Spyros Andrianos and Konstantinos Kintzios on Tuesday.

The prime minister stressed that with OPEKEPE " we are essentially fighting one of the last battles with the old Greece-a Greece that hurt us and ultimately bankrupted us. I will fully assume my responsibilities for the fact that we were not able to carry out this reform earlier, even though we wanted to,” he noted.

Regarding citizens’ purchasing power, the prime minister said: " Of course we carry out market inspections, but we can improve in this area so as to ensure that the market operates with full transparency.”

I would like to remind you that we took quite strict measures-restrictions on companies’ profit margins. We did this even after COVID. We made very important interventions in the energy market; we clawed back money from producers because they were making excessive profits and redistributed it to society. However, in terms of how the market functions, the National Consumer Authority is an important step, and I expect that in this field we can become better,” he added.

On the issue of the primary sector, the prime minister revealed that it is his intention-and that he will announce it in Parliament-to immediately establish a parliamentary committee composed of all parties, with a cross-party presidium and the participation of experts, in order to draw up a plan for the full restructuring of the primary sector.

Regarding farmers’ mobilisations, the prime minister said: " We want to ensure that our farmers have access to low electricity prices, possibly beyond the two-year period we secured two years ago. We know that, at a structural level, the issue of irrigation water must be addressed in a comprehensive way. So we are clearly aware of the demands, but solutions to mobilizations come through dialogue and-allow me to say-through an understanding on the part of farmers as well that an entire society cannot be inconvenienced, especially at a time close to Christmas when the market needs to function. Because in this way, they will ultimately lose their own moral high ground.”