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The writer is Greece’s finance minister
Europe has spent years recognising what must be done, but not acting with the necessary speed. Former Italian prime minister Mario Draghi warned last year that without deeper integration, the EU risks stagnation. Among his central prescriptions is the need to allow capital to move across member countries with greater ease and purpose. Europe’s challenge today is not the absence of analysis but the absence of co-ordinated execution. The Eurozone now needs to translate shared priorities into shared outcomes.
Greece’s experience shows how ambition can translate into execution. Over the past decade, the country has turned sustained reform into sustained credibility. In 2024, Greece delivered one of Europe’s strongest primary surpluses (close to 4.8 per cent of GDP) while maintaining growth above the Eurozone average. Only six of the EU’s 27 member states ran fiscal surpluses last year, and four of them, including Greece, had undergone IMF programmes in the past 15 years. In our case, a country once seen as the Eurozone’s problem child now borrows internationally at yields below other EU countries — a reversal few would have predicted a decade ago.
The recent budget submitted in Greece’s parliament projects growth of 2.4 per cent in 2026, with public debt expected to fall to less than 140 per cent of GDP. Before 2030, Greek public debt is projected to decline below 120 per cent, marking a decisive and symbolic break with the past. This improvement reflects sustained primary surpluses, stronger nominal growth and the early repayment of older official loans.
Fiscal repair has been matched by state modernisation. A decade ago, citizens queued in public offices; today more than 2,000 services are available through the government portal gov.gr, which has catalysed billions of digital transactions across public services. From tax filings to company registrations, tasks that once took days now take minutes. The European Commission now ranks Greece among Europe’s fastest digital improvers.
The debate over digital identity is still unfolding in many countries. In Greece, the transition has taken shape because we understand that digital IDs reduce fraud, speed transactions, enable secure access to services and support financial inclusion. Since 2022, citizens have carried digital IDs and driving licences on their mobile phones, using them for transactions requiring proof of identity.
Credibility with markets and with citizens deepens when people experience competence from public institutions in their daily lives. Digital transformation has become a structural engine of growth and is a European competitiveness imperative. The pace of technological change means that productivity, competition and digital resilience must shape how Europe thinks and makes collective decisions about its economic future.
The same forces reshaping productivity and competition are also reshaping Europe’s financial landscape. Europe has long talked about the goal of single market completion, which would deepen capital market integration and enhance the four freedoms — goods, services, people and capital. But reaching that goal requires both institutional change and a change of mindset. A savings and investment union will not emerge purely from declarations or directives and regulations. It requires demonstrating the willingness to generate cross-border economic activity and foster European champions.
Greece’s experience offers a practical illustration of this principle. In recent months, there has been a wave of cross-border mergers and acquisitions in banking and capital markets including Euronext’s acquisition of the Athens Stock Exchange and UniCredit’s investment in Alpha Bank.
Yet even amid this progress, Greece faces domestic challenges. It must attract more investment to rebuild its capital stock. Exports, though rising, still account for a smaller share of GDP than in comparable economies. Productivity and real wages must continue to grow if convergence with Europe’s core is to be sustained.
Meanwhile, demographic pressures require bold, family-friendly economic policies to support labour market participation and the talent base that underpins future growth. Our recent tax reform reflects Greece’s commitment countering population decline, including the phased elimination of property taxes on primary residences in small communities — a measure designed to ease the burden on young households and revitalise rural areas.
The Greek case is no longer a cautionary tale but a case study in transformation. Our greatest export today is not merely growth, but proof that change is possible — and remains within reach for Europe as a whole.
