The need to move on Europe directly to the completion of the Union Savings and Investments pointed out Minister of National Economy and Finance Kyriakos Pierrakakis, conversing with him Director of Bruegel, Jeromin Zettelmeyerin the context of a joint event for its 20 years of presence European think tankbut also for the integration of the country into the network of cooperating countries.

“We must immediately complete the Savings and Investments Union. The opportunity cost of not implementing it is the biggest that we have to face as a whole as Europeans. We must aim even better the European industrial policy where we can give birth to European champions».

The Minister underlined that Europe must speed up the completion of the Savings and Investments Unionwhile promoting an ambitious and coherent European industrial strategy.

“The Capital Markets Union, the Banking Union, all that together make up the Savings and Investments Union, are already in proposals. Policies are set. We discuss it every month in the Eurogroup and ECOFIN, promoting these policies, measures, ideas“, he said, adding that for these discussions to have a meaningful impact we will need to see cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) materialize in practice. “This will be the real test of credibility, not just institutional design“, he said.

Europe that creates champions and not “asterisks”

Mr Pierrakakis underlined that the practice of “national reservations” undermines EU cohesion and called for real cross-border movements and mergers.

“If you add up all 27 national asterisks, you end up with no result. We must move faster, cleaner and bolder. We need a single market not 27 versions of it».

The Minister also referred to the need for more cross-border acquisitions and mergers within Europe, citing the example of UniCredit in Greecewhich, as he said, “is a test of real intentions for many European countries».

“UniCredit is currently increasing its shareholding in Alpha Bank. Credia acquires a Maltese bank. And at the same time, we are particularly positive about the acquisition of the Athens Stock Exchange by Euronext. All three of these events happened in the last six to seven months“, he said.

Realism in industrial policy with emphasis on geopolitical developments

Referring to the EU’s industrial strategy, Mr. Pierrakakis said: “The most difficult debate is not the fiscal one, it is the industrial one. Who we choose, when and why. When geopolitics enters the economy, we cannot ignore our obvious advantages. Whether it is energy, technology or natural resources, Europe must act».

Referring to the common European defense policy, Mr. Pierrakakis emphasized that the security crisis can be an accelerator of integration.

“The EU has the ability to transform crises into policies, he said. We did it in space policy through ESA, we can do it in defence, with joint procurement and a European scope».

Greece is undeniably a success story

“Greece got its finances in order and achieved a massive digital transformation in just a few years. We are growing at 2.4%, but we need to move faster“, said the Minister, pointing out the need for development to find a way to be metabolized in every Greek household.

Finally, answering a question about the fiscal challenges in Germany, the Minister focused on the important achievement of creating the Ministry of Digital Governance.

International recognition for the Greek recovery, despite the challenges

The need to evolve Europe’s economic model so that it remains resilient, innovative and competitive in a rapidly changing world, stressed the President of the Council of Economic Experts, Zafira Kastrinakiopening the proceedings of the joint event of the Ministry of National Economy and Finance with the Bruegel think tank, held at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, with a central theme “Strategic Transformation of Growth in Europe: Investing in Resilience, Innovation and Competitiveness”.

“For Greece and for Europe as a whole, the debate is not just about growth rates. I would say the issue is how growth is sustained, how investment is translated into long-term gains in productivity and social resilience. Greece itself is a living example of transformation. Over the past decade, the country has moved from crisis to recovery, and from recovery to renewal and confidence».

Leena Mörttinen, who holds the permanent position of Secretary General for International and Financial Affairs of the Ministry of Finance of Finlandreferred with admiration to the Greek course of reforms and characteristically said:I am really impressed with what you have achieved in Greece. Difficulties forced you to reform, and that’s impressive. In Finland, by contrast, because we did not experience the same decline, we remain in a more dangerous stagnation».

Jeromin Zettelmeyer, Director of Bruegel, also spoke positively about Greece, characterizing the country’s progress as “really extremely satisfactory”. “You are the latest case in Europe to face an existential challenge and therefore an example from which we can all learn.”

European Integration in Energy as well

In the ensuing discussion on: “Energy as a pillar of Europe’s development”O Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy Nikos Tsafos underlined the imperative need for a single European energy strategy.

“We start from what each country wants. And then we try to reconcile them, to “stitch” together the 27 national plans, right? So we end up with a very strange picture. Instead, we should start from what are Europe’s natural and energy potentials: what makes sense to do and how we can build a system that makes use of these advantages. We’re not there yet, because if you do that, you’re giving away a significant amount of power, and that’s a conversation that needs to be had, about how much and how quickly“, he emphasized.

“But the reality is that as long as the system is designed around 27 different countries trying to do their own thing, the result will inevitably be a suboptimal, suboptimal system“, he said.

The position of PPC’s General Strategy Director Elena Giannakopoulou was moved in the same mood. which added for its part that the exploitation of European energy resources and the possibility of their transfer throughout the territory of the union, is what can really offer more competitive electricity to consumers and contribute to the reduction of energy dependence.

The discussion of the event with a theme “Industrial policy and investment: How to turn capital into productivity”coordinated by Nikos Vettas, Director General of IOBE and Professor at the Athens University of Economics and Business.

According to Reihhilde Veugelers, Bruegel Senior Fellowwho participated in the discussion, “innovation is an extremely important factor in managing this multidimensional reality so that we can find effective balances between goals. For example, being able to promote decarbonisation without harming competitiveness while achieving strategic autonomy».

Yiannis Tsoukalas head of the Budget Office in the Parliament pointed out in turn that “Greece, often when viewed from the outside, looks like a paradox. Growth in the EU is slow, but in Greece it is significantly faster than the European average. At the same time, there have been huge improvements in macroeconomic and fiscal performance, perhaps the most impressive ever seen in modern Greek economic history».