Finance Minister and Eurogroup President Kyriakos Pierrakakis highlighted the need for Europe to abandon inertia, speed up decision-making and acquire a clear strategic direction, in a discussion with Peter Frankopan, professor of global history at the University of Oxford.
The discussion took place on Thursday as part of the “Sixth Thessaloniki Metropolitan Summit – Leading up to 2030: Connectivity and Growth for Southeast Europe.” It focused on the conditions needed to generate new growth momentum in Europe at a time when low productivity, demographic pressures, external shocks and international competition are constraining the continent’s prospects.
A key theme of Pierrakakis’ remarks was that leadership can no longer be limited to managing familiar problems, nor can it be reduced to grand declarations. It must combine strategic thinking with speed, political will with practical implementation, and knowledge of the past with the ability to adapt to a future that is accelerating.
“The future is accelerating and coming at a much greater speed than in the past,” he noted, stressing that governments must be able to tackle both the problems that have accumulated and the challenges that have yet to emerge.
