Policy Reform in Hard Times

On Monday, 2 June 2025, Sciences Po’s School of Public Affairs welcomed Greece’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, for a high-level policy discussion. Moderated by Dr. Noam Titelman, the event brought together students and policymakers for an in-depth exchange on Greece’s fiscal and digital transformation, as well as Europe’s evolving economic landscape.

Minister Pierrakakis, a technocrat trained at MIT and Harvard with a background in computer science and public policy, has held key government portfolios since 2019. His opening remarks outlined Greece’s path from fiscal collapse to becoming one of the few EU member states to post a primary surplus of 4.8% of GDP in 2024. Central to this turnaround, he argued, has been an ambitious digital transformation. “Greece in 2029 will no longer be the country with the highest public debt in the Eurozone”, he stated, crediting, among other factors, the adoption of digital tools for significantly reducing tax evasion and shrinking the informal economy from 35–40% of GDP before the crisis to 15% today. The 2020 digital reform, he added, demonstrates that reform is possible even in low-trust, post-crisis environments, when it is pragmatic, measurable, and technologically driven.

On behalf of the student body, student Angelos Karagiannopoulos opened the discussion by asking how the EU should respond to growing global fragmentation and what role Greece could play in that context. In response, the Minister reaffirmed Greece’s commitment to deeper European integration and cited the Draghi and Letta reports as key frameworks for guiding that process. He advocated both for an ideal tariff-free EU–US relationship and for removing persistent internal barriers within the EU. Referring to IMF data, he noted that trade in services and manufacturing among EU member states still faces the equivalent of 110% and 45% tariffs, respectively. For Greece, which is currently growing at 2.3%, eliminating these barriers represents “an obvious low-hanging fruit”.

Asked about the legacy of austerity and the appropriate economic mix going forward, the Minister highlighted the EU’s new fiscal framework, which reflects Keynesian principles: saving during growth periods and spending in downturns. Confident in Greece’s readiness, he noted that “having passed through the very difficult times” of the last decade, the country is now prepared to operate under this framework. When the issue of socioeconomic inequality arose, he acknowledged persistent disparities and affirmed that there remains room for progress, while defending the government’s emphasis on fiscal stability as the foundation for investment and long-term growth.

Ultimately, the event offered more than a summary of reforms; it became an exercise in democratic exchange. Students gained insight into real-world policymaking from a senior official combining a technocratic background with political experience. The conversation brought national progress into a broader European perspective. For a generation raised amid crises and now trained to analyse them, such dialogues are not just informative; they are essential.

Angelos Karayannopoulos, Master in Public Policy, Politics and Public Policy Stream, School of Public Affairs.