ATHENS — Finance Minister Christos Staikouras, in a doorstep statement upon his arrival at the Eurogroup meeting in Lisbon on Friday, referred to the four challenges facing Europe after the pandemic, which must be addressed collectively to achieve high, strong and sustainable growth, create many new jobs and strengthen social cohesion.

Specifically, the Greek minister stated the following:

"Europe has dealt with the economic effects of the unprecedented health crisis in a timely and effective manner. This was confirmed by the latest forecasts of the European Commission.

However, we have challenges ahead of us. We are called upon to deal with them collectively:

1. We must continue to align fiscal and monetary policy.

2. We need to shift temporary support measures towards recovery.

3. We must implement the Recovery Fund effectively, as soon as possible, through reforms and investment.

4. We need to rethink the framework of economic governance.

"If we implement all these policies, we will achieve high, strong and sustainable growth, we will create many new jobs and we will strengthen social cohesion."