Greece's Ministry of National Economy and Finance published remarks by Minister of National Economy and Finance and Eurogroup President Kyriakos Pierrakakis from an IE Competitiveness Hub panel on European competitiveness. In the discussion, he said the Eurogroup's immediate task is to turn the European Commission's Savings and Investments Union agenda into implementation, and that ministers hope to agree a common statement on digital finance in July. He also presented the digital euro as the European Union's main strategic response to the dominance of USD-linked stablecoins and as a way to strengthen the euro's international role through a public payments and settlement infrastructure. On the Savings and Investments Union, Pierrakakis said progress will depend on building consensus among finance ministers, creating the right mechanisms within the Eurogroup and overcoming national reservations that often qualify support in principle. He said smaller-country initiatives are useful if they help build consensus across all 27 member states, and argued that the policy case needs to be explained in concrete terms to citizens and firms, including whether European start-ups can scale within Europe rather than move to the United States for financing. He also linked competitiveness and digital finance to broader questions of technological sovereignty, saying Europe needs common governance arrangements and a shared strategy rather than fragmented national approaches. On digital finance, he contrasted the United States model of private innovation around dollar stablecoins without a digital dollar, China's fully digital public-currency approach, and the European Union's framework under Markets in Crypto-Assets alongside the proposed digital euro. He cited figures showing about 95% of stablecoins are linked to the USD and less than 1% to the EUR, said he expects the European Parliament to move on the digital euro this year, and described 2029 as an acceptable delivery horizon even though delays carry tangible opportunity costs.
Ministry of National Economy and Finance (Greece) 2026-05-06
Greece Ministry of National Economy and Finance says Eurogroup is working on Savings and Investments Union implementation and targets a July digital finance statement
Greece’s Ministry of National Economy and Finance published remarks by Minister and Eurogroup President Kyriakos Pierrakakis highlighting the Eurogroup’s priority to implement the European Commission’s Savings and Investments Union agenda and agree a common statement on digital finance. He framed the digital euro as the EU’s main strategic response to USD-linked stablecoins, aimed at strengthening the euro’s international role via a public payments and settlement infrastructure, and indicated that European Parliament action is expected this year with a 2029 delivery horizon viewed as acceptable despite opportunity costs.