On Thursday 11 December, the euro area finance ministers elected their Greek counterpart, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, to a two-and-a-half year term as President of the Eurogroup, replacing Paschal Donohoe of Ireland (see EUROPE 13762/19).
Assuming the Presidency of the Eurogroup meeting on an interim basis, the Cypriot Minister, Makis Keravnos, wished Mr Pierrakakis “every success” starting “Friday 12 December”, the date on which his mandate begins. He thanked the Belgian minister, Vincent Van Peteghem, for his interest shown in the election.
According to our information, the first round of votes produced a clear result in favour of the Greek minister, who needed at least eleven votes to win.
Promising to act with “humility and determination”, Kyriakos Pierrakakis drew “two lessons” from his election as the head of an informal body that he only joined in March 2025: - “The old distinctions which existed in Europe between the North and the South (...), the so-called ‘frugals’ and the so-called ‘spenders’, seem to have subsided and this is because the challenges that we face are very similar”, such as Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine or technological challenges; - With the ‘Draghi’ and ‘Letta’ reports, “we know what we need to do” in terms of fiscal and economic policy, and our strategy should become “a synonym of delivery”.
The European Commissioner for Economy, Valdis Dombrovskis, described Mr Pierrakakis’ election as “an important symbolic moment for Greece and the euro area”. “We all remember the deep financial economic crisis which Greece had to go through and even the question was raised on Greece’s continued membership in the euro area. But now we see a remarkable turnaround, with Greece being among the euro area’s best performing economies”, he added.
To see Mr Pierrakakis’ CV: https://aeur.eu/f/jrk ; and his cover letter: https://aeur.eu/f/jrj
ESM. Meeting as the Board of Directors of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the twenty ministers immediately elected Mr Pierrakakis to head the euro area’s permanent rescue fund.
The ESM also welcomed the entry of Bulgaria, which will become a member of the euro area starting January 2026. This entry will take place gradually, during the first half of next year, once the Bulgarian authorities have ratified the treaty establishing the ESM.
With regard to the country’s subscription to the paid-in capital of the rescue fund, Bulgaria will benefit from a twelve-year correction period, during which its contribution will amount to around €600 million (payment in five annual instalments). At the end of this correction period, it will pay the remaining amount to reach €992 million.
On 1 January 2026, when the twelve-year correction period ends, Latvia will have to increase its contribution to the capital of the ESM by €324.4 million. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)