Francois Hollande: “If I Am Elected, I Will Relieve Greek People’s Burden”

By Areti Kotseli on April 26, 2012 in EU, France, news

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French presidential race leader Francois Hollande promises support to debt-ridden Greece. The likely future French President made clear that he will put pressure on changing the financial program implemented in Greece, in a statement he made on Wednesday (April 25).
“If elected, I want to relieve Greek people’s burden. Greece must regain a level of development…,” he stated.
Today, Hollande announced he aims at proposing a new “memorandum” for enhancing EU growth. He assured that if he gets elected, he will send a copy of his four ideas for the improvement of the financial growth in the European Union in the form of a letter to every European leader the very next day of his inauguration.
“The day after the vote, if I receive a mandate, I will address a memorandum to the heads of state on renegotiating the treaty,” Hollande said. The memorandum-letter will include four basic ideas:

• The creation of eurobonds, not to pool debts but to finance industrial infrastructure projects
• Free up more financing possibilities from the European Investment Bank
• The creation of a tax on financial transactions
• Mobilizing the remnants of European structural funds that are now unused

Hollande also welcomed a comment from European Central Bank Chief Mario Draghi, who earlier said the country needed joint measures to support growth. “The fiscal pact needs to be accompanied by a growth pact,” he stated.
Hollande said European leaders were coming around to his idea that supporting growth was “ultimately a more effective way of reaching the same goal of controlling the debt and reducing deficits.”