Kalidopolus highlighted economic recovery, job creation, improvement of cohesiveness and maritime policy as the chief priorities of Greece's fifth stint at the helm of the EU.

Janja Klasinc of the ruling Positive Slovenia (PS) said Europe should strive to create jobs with high value added instead of competing on low wages.

Andrej Čuš of the opposition Democrats (SDS) highlighted the plight of youths, noting that a new intergenerational agreement was needed.

The MPs also warned about migrations, which the Greek ambassador said was a Europe-wide issue.

Greece expects the member states will share not only the benefits but also the burden, he said.

The debate also touched on the tax discrimination of cross-border workers in view of measures that the European Commission has recently put forward.

Ambassador Kalidopolus also reiterated his country's commitment to EU enlargement, noting that the Thessaloniki Agenda of 2003 was still pertinent.

He sees all countries of the Western Balkans plus Turkey in the EU, but noted some had "problems meeting European criteria".

He did not mention Macedonia, whose name dispute with Greece is one of the reasons its accession to the EU has stalled.