ATHENS – European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni on Thursday reaffirmed that the European Commission will be at Greece’s side as it completes its voyage back to normality, addressing the Greek parliamentary committees of European and Economic Affairs.

Commenting on ‘Brexit Day’ that saw the departure of the United Kingdom from Europe, Gentiloni noted that, fortunately, “the threat of Grexit no longer exists”.

Talking about the challenges facing the EU in the coming period, such as tensions in trade, slow global growth and the need to attract investments, the Commissioner emphasised the EU’s “three key priorities”, identifying these as climate transition, adapting econonic governance to the new reality and completing Economic and Monetary Union.

Gentiloni pointed out that the climate transition could prove to be a huge opportunity for Europe and for Greece, adding that there is a mechanism for dealing with the social difficulties and repercussions of climate transition. This mechanism is essentially a fair transition fund and should be used whenever a transition is essential due to high pollutant emissions, he added.

Referring to the excessive deficit and the debt to the eurozone, Gentiloni said that the debt is reduced in the area of the eurozone to 86 pct of GDP but this reduction is not evenly spread. Apart from Greece, the debt remains over 100 pct of the GDP in several other countries as well, he said.