Kyriakos Pierrakakis, Greece’s Minister of National Economy and Finance and President of the Eurogroup, is in Brussels to chair the Eurogroup meetings and participate in ECOFIN.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, May 5, Pierrakakis will attend the meeting of the European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, where, in his capacity as Eurogroup President, he will answer questions from Members of the European Parliament on key Eurozone priorities.

Later in the afternoon, he will take part in a panel discussion hosted by the IE Competitiveness Hub, focusing on boosting the competitiveness of the European economy. Participants will include Paolo Gentiloni, former Prime Minister of Italy and former European Commissioner for the Economy, and Carlos Cuerpo, Spain’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Business.

Eurogroup and ECOFIN agenda

At the center of today’s Eurogroup discussions are the latest developments in the Middle East crisis and their ongoing impact on the European and global economy. Participating in the discussion will be Oya Celasun, Deputy Director of the European Department of the International Monetary Fund, who will present the Fund’s assessment of the macroeconomic implications of the crisis.

Finance ministers from the 21 Eurozone countries will also discuss issues related to the stability and resilience of the European banking system, the deepening of the banking union, and strengthening financing for the European economy. The discussion will include the participation of Slawomir Krupa, President of the European Banking Federation.

Ministers will also receive updates from the heads of the Single Supervisory Mechanism and the Single Resolution Board as part of their regular semi-annual reporting.

The agenda also includes the presentation of the FIVE Report on financing innovative businesses in Europe by Christian Noyer and Jörg Kukies, focusing on proposals to develop European capital markets and improve access to private funding for startups and scale-ups.

Greece will be represented by Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance Thanos Petralias.

At tomorrow’s ECOFIN meeting, ministers will discuss a Council regulation regarding access by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and the European Anti-Fraud Office to VAT-related information at EU level, as well as measures for completing and supervising the single market—key elements of the Savings and Investments Union (SIU) strategy.

They will also be briefed on developments following the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting of April 16, as well as the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund.