00:00Coming up, we'll be joined by Kyriakos Perikakis, the president of the Eurogroup and the Minister
00:05of Economy and Finance of Greece. As head of the Eurogroup, he chairs meetings of finance
00:11ministers from the Eurozone countries and coordinates economic policy across the Eurozone.
00:15Good morning. Good morning. Great to have you with us here on Europe Today on Euronews.
00:20Delighted to be joining you. So look, Europeans are waking up today with deep concern about the
00:25escalating situation, the rising energy prices. How vulnerable is the European economy here to
00:29these shocks? First of all, we're being tested. This is obvious. And obviously, we're also being
00:34quite concerned about how things are unfolding on the ground. I think we're meeting the diplomatic
00:39challenge. You mentioned Cyprus before in the visit of President Macron in Cyprus. I think
00:43it's quite pertinent that we have this testament, this manifestation of European solidarity by having
00:49forces sent in Cyprus. And I have to say I'm quite happy that Greece and the Greek government led the
00:54way by being first. I would also add that we're also tested economically. And this is what we're
00:59going to be discussing today at the Eurogroup meeting. Energy is going to be a core element
01:03of our discussion. The impact of energy prices is significant already. And we want to see how
01:09we're going to meet that challenge on the ground as well. And just first back to that visit in Cyprus
01:13today, the Greek prime minister also accompanying President Emmanuel Macron. Is the war getting
01:17closer to your home? By definition, I would say that we are concerned. And this is an area where
01:22European solidarity is absolutely essential to manifest and showcase. That's why I mentioned in the
01:27I underlined that it's quite important that European states, European member states are
01:31collectively showing support to ensure the security of a member state of the European Union.
01:35And Greeks are concerned. They're already getting very concerned about the cost of living crisis,
01:39how this is impacting their pocket. What will you do to address these concerns?
01:42I would say that we already have a toolkit. And the toolkit is the 2022 toolkit. We're not yet there,
01:48but businesses and households are already signaling that they want to see what type of support they
01:53would receive should the crisis deepen. I think we have two key words here. The first one is
01:59duration, how long it will last. The second one is disruption. What type of crisis will it be?
02:05If you have a disruption of supply chains and maritime transport, for instance, at the Strait of Hormuz
02:10for a very long period of time, by definition, the impact is going to be different. We're looking
02:15at the price of natural gas. We're looking at the price of oil. But effectively, there are many elements
02:20of a potential disruption that we're also looking at. The price of fertilizers, air traffic,
02:25food security. There are many elements on the ground that affect the international economy. And I mentioned
02:302022 because the invasion of Russia and Ukraine provided us with a European toolkit of how we can
02:36manage those crises.
02:37So are we better prepared now?
02:38Of course we're better prepared. That's why we have this deployment of a toolkit. But at the same time,
02:43we need orchestration and coordination at the European level. And this is what the Eurogroup is for.
02:47So we're going to be discussing all of those things, both today and on many meetings,
02:52even at the level of the leaders, because we need a concerted European action.
02:55Because the IMF, the International Monetary Fund, have warned in a report just the other day that
02:59the consequences could be felt earlier than we even think.
03:02The key word here, I think, is uncertainty. That's why I mentioned duration. And uncertainty,
03:07we saw that with tariffs. Uncertainty has a much greater impact than a problematic policy per se.
03:12That's why you need to unleash the full potential of the European market, of the European Union.
03:18When we're discussing macroeconomic developments for the previous year, at the level of the European
03:22ministers of finance, we say that the key word for Europe is resilience. But if we're frank,
03:28we need to underline and stress that resilience is not a growth strategy. We need much more.
03:33And Europe has a huge potential to unlock its innovation, its dynamism. We need to remove the
03:39barriers that exist between the member states of the European Union. And if we're speaking about
03:43energy, we need a single European energy market, which we don't have. That's why energy was put
03:48on the agenda. It's not only about the here and the now, the crisis that we're having at the Gulf
03:53right now. It's much broader. It's about interconnections. It's about regulation. It's about
03:58unlocking the potential of our European energy market. We need to do all of those things at once.
04:02A lot to do, indeed, of course. But just about the here and now, our viewers waking up this
04:05morning worrying about inflation, that it could go up again.
04:08That's why I mentioned before that we're looking very closely, the impact on oil and natural gas
04:13and obviously rising energy prices has an adverse impact on inflation. We saw that in 2022. I would
04:20say that we're not there. 2022 was a much deeper crisis. But we need to be anticipatory and we need
04:26to be very well prepared. As you asked before, we're much better prepared now. But we need to be vigilant
04:32and we need to be observing the situation on the ground.
04:34And what about the European Central Bank? What role will they be playing here?
04:37Obviously, we believe very firmly in the independence of the European Central Bank and they have shown
04:41that they have the agility and the capability to react when it is necessary and we fully trust them.
04:46And will that be soon, you think?
04:48I cannot comment on that because, as I mentioned, the independence of the Central Bank is for all
04:52Europeans as sine qua non.
04:54And are you feeling very worried right now?
04:56I would say that I feel concerned. I would say that our work, our job is to be concerned. But
05:01at the same time, our work is to know what we need to do and when we need to do
05:05that.
05:06And as I mentioned before, I think that we have this capacity right now, both at the level of Europe,
05:10both at the level of Brussels and at the level of the member states.
05:13And did this war take you by surprise, Minister?
05:16In reality, we have seen a density of geopolitical events in the recent years, which shouldn't be taking us by
05:22surprise at all.
05:23The things we have seen in the last six or seven years would have never been anticipated, you know, from
05:29a 2019 lens,
05:30which is when the government that I participate at came into office.
05:34But I think that at the same time, our capacity building has changed, both at the European level and at
05:39the national level.
05:40And this is why, even though you cannot fully anticipate the granularity of certain events, the mentality of anti-fragility
05:47and of capacity building yourself is now here.
05:49And is the EU speaking with one voice to believe in this war?
05:53I think so. And I mentioned Cyprus at the beginning because that was a testament of European solidarity at the
05:58diplomatic level.
05:59We need to have more concerted and more coordinated action at the economic level as well.
06:04This is our responsibility. This is why we're here.
06:07And President Macron's visit to Cyprus today, is it diplomatic or is it really strategic for him?
06:12I think it's absolutely strategic. And diplomacy is a core element of that strategy.
06:15All of those things are being, in a sense, being put together.
06:19Diplomacy, economic policy. Europe should speak with one voice on all fronts.
06:23This is what we need to achieve. We need strategic autonomy.
06:26But Europe has not been speaking with one voice on all fronts.
06:28Well, that's the challenge. That's why we have the Draghi report. That's why we have the Leto report.
06:31And this is why the whole idea is that you need a single market to begin with in order to
06:35unlock your potential, even on a sovereignty basis, not only on an economic basis.
06:39That will be the challenge of my generation in politics, I think.
06:42And it's a challenge that should be met. We don't have the luxury of not meeting it.
06:46And you don't have the luxury of time, given the escalation crisis right now.
06:49And what you're saying is effectively an element of the European story in the past.
06:54We typically integrated crisis, metabolized crisis, into a change in policy when they were manifesting themselves.
07:00We need to become more anticipatory.
07:02We should at least integrate perfect, optimal responses to crisis.
07:06But at the same time, we need to learn how to anticipate them.
07:08We don't have the luxury of simply reacting anymore.
07:11And just one final question.
07:12Bulgaria recently joined the Eurozone.
07:14How is that going?
07:14It's going well, and we have a collective experience of a transition to the European currency from all the other
07:22stories, like the Greek story, for instance, that took place in the past.
07:26We're supporting the Bulgarian government, and so far the situation has been going quite well.
07:31Okay.
07:32Thank you so much, Minister, for being our guest this morning on Europe Today and for coming into us here
07:36on Euro News.
07:37All the best with your busy day of talks.
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