The Minister of National Economy and Finance, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, will chair tomorrow’s debate with his European counterparts on innovation and digitalisation, as part of the informal meetings of the Eurogroup and ECOFIN Councils.

Today, from Copenhagen, entering the meeting, he made the following statement:

“We are meeting here today in the beautiful city of Copenhagen for the informal ECOFIN and Eurogroup meetings to discuss a full range of issues, from the introduction of the digital euro to the economic implications of geopolitical developments.

We also met one year after the publication of the Draghi report. And if there is one lesson to be drawn from it, it is that we need to raise our level of ambition. We should try to achieve more than simply removing the barriers that exist between the member states of the European Union, between our economies.

We must also try to join forces in strategic areas, in digital infrastructure such as telecommunications, but also to simplify and modernise public procurement in areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and green transition.

We should not just try to have a risk-managed economy. We should strive for an economy that encourages innovation and promotes growth in 21st-century terms. And that is entirely achievable.“.