In remarks at a Centre for European Policy Studies event in Brussels on Greece’s recovery 10 years after the euro referendum, Minister of National Economy and Finance Kyriakos Pierrakakis said the referendum showed that expectations had proved illusory rather than realistic policy alternatives. He framed fiscal prudence as non-negotiable after the sequence of negotiations and the three bailout programmes, and described Greece’s current economic trajectory as anchored in fiscal discipline, reforms and the continued development of the banking system following its full clean-up. Pierrakakis said Greece has implemented almost 100 reforms over the past six years, while highlighting remaining challenges including productivity, demographics and attracting more investment. On the European Union agenda, he pointed to the debate on implementing the Draghi report through removing cross-border obstacles and simplifying regulation, and presented the Savings and Investment Union as a central political and economic project for the next decade that also requires a cross-border culture to support European, rather than national, champions. As an example, he cited Greece’s 5G spectrum auction, which raised EUR 372 million, and suggested that an EU-scale auction of around EUR 5 billion could be partly leveraged via the European Investment Bank to support both application development and infrastructure. He also argued that digital reform should be oriented around administration and better services for citizens, rather than technology alone, with public services designed around user needs rather than internal bureaucratic structures.

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