In his extensive four-page interview with the Italian magazine L’Espresso , the Minister of National Economy and Finance and President of the Eurogroup Kyriakos Pierrakakis, sends a clear message that Europe must invest more in itself, reduce its strategic dependencies, and move with greater speed in a world of increasing competition.
From energy security and technological sovereignty to the digital euro, Mr. Pierrakakis underlines that Europe’s competitiveness and strategic autonomy will be judged by its ability to move from discussion to action.
Among other things, Kyriakos Pierrakakis states:
On fiscal flexibility regarding investments in the energy sector :
“The European Commission’s initial position was that there would be no deviation from the fiscal rules and that every decision would be taken based on the actual conditions and the severity of the crisis originating from the Middle East.
As the months passed, it became clear that we were not in the most favorable possible scenario and that the crisis was continuing.
That is why the Commission moved toward greater fiscal flexibility, always within the existing framework of rules, in order to support energy investments.
The International Monetary Fund presented data at the Eurogroup showing that temporary, targeted, and well-designed measures are the most effective, as they are also socially fairer. By contrast, horizontal measures mainly benefit the higher income groups.
However, there is also a second, even more interesting element. According to the IMF, the investments that had already been made in energy infrastructure reduced the impact of today’s energy crisis by 12%.
This shows that there is a direct link between short-term and long-term planning: what we do today must also serve our long-term goals.
This 12% explains why the European Commission decided to allow this additional fiscal flexibility for investments in the energy sector”.
On the interventions that can be made within this framework
“Discussions are still ongoing, but the measures should contribute to reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. This may concern major investment projects in renewable energy sources or in electricity grid infrastructure.
They could also include subsidies for households and businesses so that they replace heating systems that operate on natural gas or oil with heat pumps and photovoltaics, as well as incentives for electric mobility”.
On the common industrial policy
“I believe that technology must be at the center of this discussion.
We need a common understanding of what “sovereignty” really means.
In my view, sovereignty should not be equated with self-sufficiency or full autonomy.
We must identify the sectors in which we can strengthen our industrial champions and turn them into truly European champions and not merely national ones. At the same time, we must recognize those sectors in which we can gain a competitive advantage, even if we do not have it today.
In the past we achieved this in certain cases, but it is not possible to do it everywhere. We must carefully choose the sectors that are truly strategic for our success and for strengthening Europe’s economic sovereignty.
In the remaining sectors we must understand that sovereignty is not necessarily achieved through ownership of assets, but through control and a smart regulatory framework”.
On what “control” means
“Let us take cloud as an example.
Two thirds of the European cloud services market are currently controlled by American tech giants, while there is not yet a truly European champion.
In this case, a smart regulatory approach —for example the ability to transfer data from one provider to another at zero or almost zero cost— could be part of the solution.
If the available resources are limited, we must direct our investments to businesses that have the potential to develop into European champions and global competitors.
Entire ecosystems must be created around these businesses.
Without a clear strategy for where we invest, it is difficult to address issues such as artificial intelligence.
The goal, however, is not to create a European version of everything. We do not have the resources for such a thing”.
On how this is reflected in an example
“Let us think about the role played by ASML in the Netherlands or Mistral AI in France.
One of my favorite examples is 5G infrastructure.
During the period of global competition between the United States and China over 5G, Europe had two world-class industrial champions: Ericsson and Nokia.
We could have used this opportunity to create an entire industrial ecosystem around these companies, if there had been a truly single European telecommunications market.
Instead, we still have 27 different national regulatory authorities.
The chief executive officer of Deutsche Telekom has to work with many different regulatory authorities across Europe, while in the United States T-Mobile has to speak with only one federal regulatory authority.
This fragmentation is a significant obstacle.
In Greece we allocated 25% of the revenues from spectrum auctions to the creation of an investment fund, which then financed start-ups operating in the 5G ecosystem.
However, Greece alone does not have the required scale to achieve the results that are needed.
The ideal scenario would have been for a single European radio frequency auction to have taken place and for that same 25% to be invested throughout the European Union.
We could thus have created a large European investment fund, which would finance start-ups across the single market that develop technologies around 5G.
If we had done that, we would have acquired a real European industrial policy in a sector where we already had a competitive advantage.
The International Monetary Fund has calculated that the cost of the existing barriers in the services sector is equivalent to a tariff of 110% between the member states.
We must abolish these barriers in order to create more growth and more jobs”.
On the Savings and Investments Union
“All the legislation and regulatory initiatives that we are promoting ,including European pension products, are aimed precisely at removing these barriers.
For citizens it is not always easy to understand what this means in their daily lives.
If we ask “what has Europe done for you?”, most will mention free roaming, Erasmus, or the structural funds.
But the Savings and Investments Union can mean much more: a start-up that acquires a truly European dimension, idle savings directed toward productive investments, as well as larger and stronger European banks”.
On what the euro lacks in order to compete with the dollar and the yuan as a global currency?
“We are witnessing the overall digitization of the global financial system.
The United States chose a strategy based on private innovation and stablecoins.
They chose not to create a public digital dollar.
Europe, by contrast, chose to create by 2029 a public digital infrastructure: the digital euro.
On top of this infrastructure and the corresponding regulatory framework, private innovation will then also be able to develop.
Today about 95% of stablecoins worldwide are linked to the dollar, while less than 1% are linked to the euro.
That is why the digital euro project has such great strategic importance”.
On citizens’ willingness to accept changes
“I served as Minister of Digital Governance in Greece from 2019 to 2023. When we started, Greece was probably the most bureaucratic country in Europe. Today we have digitized more than 2,200 public services through a single platform.
When they asked me how we would convince citizens of the value of this digital transformation, I always answered the same:
The only way to convince them is to make it a reality.
When citizens see tangible results, then change is accepted.
Thus, digitization evolved into one of the most popular reforms in modern Greek history”.
On whether the digital euro will strengthen European sovereignty
“Undoubtedly yes.
But first we must all agree on what we mean when we speak of “sovereignty.” In Europe we often use this word, but not always with the same content. For some it means autonomy. For others it means control. For some others it means ownership.
We need a common understanding.
Only in this way can we shape a common strategy.
Europe today has before it a “dividend of the obvious”: the Savings and Investments Union, the removal of internal barriers, the creation of a truly European industrial policy, and the strengthening of technological sovereignty. All these are part of the same strategy. The time has come to move to action”.
On the accusations of mismanagement of European funds
“As soon as we identified problems in the management of agricultural subsidies, we decided to intervene. We transferred the relevant responsibilities to the Independent Authority for Public Revenue, an institution that has already demonstrated significant results in combating tax evasion.
We recognized the problem, discussed it publicly, and requested the support of the European institutions.”