Against the backdrop of Donald Trump’s tariff threats regarding the Greenland issue, today’s Eurogroup convenes for the first time under the presidency of Greek Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis. The central topic of today’s meeting is the election of the European Central Bank’s vice president, as the term of current Vice President Luis de Guindos expires at the end of May. In his first message before the first Eurogroup meeting of the year, Pierrakakis emphasized issues of international law and territorial integrity amid geopolitical challenges, as well as economic and digital matters.
Kyriakos Pierrakakis: His message as new Eurogroup president
“I would like to begin by expressing my condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims of the railway tragedy in Spain this month, and I want to say that our thoughts are collectively with the Spanish people. I would like to add that we will meet today in the aftermath of international developments in a geopolitically fragile environment where European unity is of great importance, with dialogue being essential, as well as cooperation between European states to defend the fundamental values of territorial sovereignty and commitment to international law. This is the first Eurogroup of the year. We are all looking forward to the first one I will chair, in my new capacity as Eurogroup president. With respect to foreign policy priorities, I will begin by repeating what I said last December that we have a common line, unanimity regarding policy priorities. The Banking Union and Capital Markets Union, completion of the single market, strengthening the Union’s fiscal institutions, the digital euro. We will be judged on tangible results and we will need to be flexible and fast. We will need to make our strategy synonymous with delivery, and I absolutely believe that together with my colleagues in the Eurogroup we can collectively achieve this, see the result of this Eurogroup program with a sense of respect, but also with a sense of urgency,” the new Eurogroup president emphasized in his first message.
“Today we welcome Bulgaria as a full member of the Eurogroup for the first time since it became a member on January 1st. This is proof of the collective strength of the euro community. We will have the opportunity to be briefed by Bulgaria’s Finance Minister on this transition and what is happening,” he added.
“We will discuss the euro area and projections for 2026, the eurozone’s policy priorities after receiving information from the European Commission,” he added among other things.
“We also have to be briefed on G7 developments. France has assumed the G7 presidency this year, so Minister Lescure will be able to proceed with briefing on France’s priorities. The last item on the agenda, the position of ECB vice president. We have received six excellent candidacies. This is an unexpected level of interest but I believe we have institutional maturity to proceed with significant steps, starting from today. So that we can conclude with one candidacy, thank you very much,” he concluded.
