“The European Investment Bank can and should take on a greater role in strengthening Europe’s defense capability.” This was noted by the Minister of National Economy and Finance Kostis Hatzidakis during the meeting of the Board of Governors of the Bank today in Luxembourg, in the framework of the Ecofin and Eurogroup meetings.

The EIB Board of Governors approved the New Strategic Map, which sets the Bank’s main priorities for the period 2024-2027. In this context, the implementation of a Action Plan for Security and Defense which provides, among other things, the opening of EIB credit lines to companies active in the security and defense sector as well as a revision of the definition of “dual use”, which means that it will become easier to finance infrastructure that also serves military purposes. “The negative developments in the global geopolitical scene have made it imperative to increase Europe’s defense capacity. The Security and Defense Action Plan adopted last May is a first step and we should now focus on its swift implementation – keeping the door open for further initiatives should the need arise,” added Mr Hatzidakis.

In his intervention, the Greek Minister also expressed his satisfaction with the fact that the Cohesion policy remains a key pillar of the EIB’s activities, as 45% of financing should serve this objective. “Cohesion is the foundation of European integration. It contributes to promoting inclusive development and improving the lives of millions of people. Cohesion funding also contributes to important EU strategic priorities, such as building trans-European networks,” he said.

At the Eurogroup meeting, IMF Managing Director Ms. Kristalina Georgieva presented the key findings of the Fund’s Report on the Eurozone economy, which is to be officially published in July. In his intervention, Mr. Hatzidakis developed the five basic conditions for strengthening the development perspective of the European Economy.

  • First, continuing to promote structural reforms and boost investment to increase productivity and address major challenges such as the green transition. The Greek Minister made special reference to the contribution of the Recovery Fund, both in the reform and investment sectors, stressing that the effort should continue with even greater determination.
  • Secondly, the promotion of the integration of the capital markets, in order to strengthen the access of businesses to financing.
  • Thirdly, the deepening of the common market, by removing obstacles, reducing the administrative burden and avoiding extensive state interventions that distort healthy competition.
  • Fourth, the completion of the Banking Union with the establishment of a pan-European deposit guarantee system.
  • Fifth, the greater support of common European priorities from the EU budget, which should be discussed in the context of the formulation of the next Multiannual Financial Framework.

In the context of the Eurogroup, they also discussed the role of the euro as an international currency as well as the issue of industrial policy implementation, as a means of strengthening competitiveness.

  • On the first issue, the main conclusion is that despite the adverse international environment, the euro has shown resilience and maintained its position against the dollar, however there should be no complacency.
  • Regarding the second issue, several Ministers, including Mr. Hatzidakis, expressed strong reservations about the prospect of relaxing the rules on state aid in order to facilitate the extensive exercise of industrial policy at the national level, as this entails significant risks for the economically weaker countries . In his intervention, however, the Greek Minister emphasized that there are certain industrial products of strategic importance such as in defense, energy interconnections and energy storage as well as in research and technology where joint coordinated initiatives could be taken to exercise industrial policy at the European level.

At the ECOFIN meeting, the main topic of discussion was financial support for Ukraine, in the wake of the recent G7 summit decision to provide $50 billion in new lending by the end of this year, using windfall revenues from frozen Russian state assets data.

In addition, an attempt was made to reach a political agreement on the “Package of legislative proposals regarding the modernization of the European Union’s VAT system in the digital age”, which, however, failed due to Estonia’s refusal to accept the mandatory implementation of the model of ” quasi-provider”, which provides that online platforms will have the responsibility of collecting and returning VAT in cases where it is not charged by the provider. Mr. Hatzidakis pointed out that Greece, together with all the other countries, fully supports the proposal, which also provides for the expansion of electronic invoicing and the simplification of procedures for businesses carrying out cross-border transactions, as it is expected to contribute to the effort to combat tax evasion and fraud to VAT.

Ministers were briefed on the progress of the Recovery and Resilience Fund while approving the revised Ireland Plan.

Finally, there was a brief presentation of the spring package of measures of the European Semester which was published on June 19.

It is recalled that the European Commission decided to set in fiscal supervision (Excessive Deficit Procedure) seven member statesincluding Belgium, France, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Malta and Slovakia, while for our country the assessment was positive both in terms of fiscal figures and the general course of the economy.

As part of the meetings, there was also the annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).