Greece's Ministry of National Economy and Finance backs EU Customs Union reform and urges action on competitiveness and energy prices at Eurogroup and ECOFIN

Greece’s Ministry of National Economy and Finance published a readout of Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis’s interventions at the Eurogroup and ECOFIN meetings in Luxembourg, where he presented the Greek economy as resilient despite international uncertainty and reaffirmed a focus on fiscal discipline and reforms. He also pressed for measures to strengthen EU competitiveness, support a modernised Customs Union, and reduce energy costs. Pierrakakis argued that EU competitiveness requires overcoming internal barriers and a fragmented regulatory framework, noting that the EU cannot operate with 27 different regulatory regimes. On the Customs Union reform package discussed at ECOFIN, he signalled Greece’s support for the proposals advanced by the European Commission and the Polish Presidency, highlighting plans for an EU Customs Authority, a digital customs data hub, and a handling fee for e-commerce transactions; the reform was presented as a route to simpler and faster customs processes and additional revenue for the EU budget. He also called for narrowing energy price gaps across Europe, welcomed the creation of a Task Force for the Energy Union, and emphasised the need to strengthen interconnections. The Eurogroup also discussed international developments with the participation of International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, alongside exchanges on the digital euro, competitiveness and euro area fiscal developments. Bulgaria’s convergence reports and its path to euro adoption from 1 January 2026 were reviewed, with Greece reiterating support, and Pierrakakis held separate meetings with European Stability Mechanism Executive Director Pierre Gramegna, European Investment Bank President Nadia Calviño, and Danish Minister of Economic Affairs Stephanie Lose ahead of Denmark taking over the ECOFIN presidency from 1 July.