00:00I know that you are part of a big group, let's say, of 17 member states that call yourselves friends
00:06of cohesion,
00:07that are pushing for a bigger EU budget, particularly to support farmers and cohesion policy and so on.
00:14Do you see that you're going to win this battle against the frugals?
00:17Because they are historically at least very, very powerful in these negotiations, so they're big net contributors.
00:25Or do you think that Greece, now that it has improved credit rating, a good growth pattern as well?
00:32We have some good news this week, as you know.
00:34Yes, with the credit rating. But do you think this could make you maybe more influential than in past years
00:39in these talks?
00:40I'm optimistic, first of all, for the Irish Negobox. You know that we are waiting for that.
00:45I have to admit that the Cypriot presidency made an excellent work with the Cypriot Negobox, so now we are
00:51waiting for the next one.
00:52All those negotiations are taking place under turbulent circumstances.
00:57You know that Europe has a lot of geopolitical, let's say, challenges to address.
01:01At the same time, we're in the middle of, let's say, an unprecedented technological and industrial transformation.
01:08So, Greece's opinion is crystal clear.
01:11If we want a stronger Europe, that means that we need to give more resources to the European budget.
01:18That's why we support an ambitious MFF, in order to be able to address all those challenges, competitiveness, energy, security,
01:27defense, agricultural policy, fisheries, cohesion policies.
01:32We need to find a balance between the traditional and the modern challenges we all have to face as a
01:37union.
01:38Yet, many major economies facing very, very high levels of debt and deficit and are cash strapped.
01:44So, how do you address this problem?
01:47Is it about more own resources, finding more money from other resources in order to boost this budget?
01:54First of all, the issue is not who contributes and who receives.
01:58This is a very narrow perspective.
02:00The issue is to see how could we make Europe stronger and how could we give Europe bigger leverage across
02:08the broader neighborhood.
02:09So, this is why we try to discuss about new resources.
02:12And yes, this could be a solution.
02:14This is why we try to find, let's say, some innovative ideas as well.
02:18Well, so Greece supports such an idea.
02:22As you know, we wouldn't like to see disproportionate burden on specific states, especially the poorest one.
02:29At the same time, we have to explore common borrowing in some special fields like defense or energy or competitiveness.
02:37And as we discuss about new resources, allow me to tell you that there is also a Greek proposal presented
02:42by the EU Group Chair,
02:44Mr. Kyriakos Perakakis, who is the Greek Finance Minister.
02:47We are talking about the establishment of the European Union of Spectrum, meaning to see if it's possible, of course,
02:55to organize a unified market of 5G and 6G licenses in order to take revenues from their auctioning system.
03:05So far, we have 27 fragmented systems of auctioning of those licenses.
03:10So, let us discuss about creating a unified one and see if there is a lot of money in order
03:16to be allocated to the MFF.
03:18This is a good idea and I'm very happy because we will have the opportunity in the next weeks to
03:22exchange views with our European partners.
03:25And you're confident that could make a big contribution in terms of revenues to the budget?
03:29You know, we have some assumptions and we could discuss about between 7 to 12 billion euros.
03:36But again, it's too early. We try to figure out the numbers.
03:39But let's say that it's a good idea and I think we could discuss it with my colleagues in the
03:45weeks to come.
03:45And just finally on the budget, you, Greece, will have elections next year and we know there are many major
03:52elections happening in major economies,
03:55including in France, of course, Italy as well and Spain.
03:57Do you believe that it's necessary to get to a deal on this by the end of the year?
04:03And do you fear that if that is not the case, there could be, you know, a derailing of the
04:08whole system due to changes in governments?
04:11I'm saying that we have to finalize the discussion on the MFF before the end of this year because this
04:17is what we plan to do.
04:20And yes, maybe some elections would bring some different results that could make it difficult to reach a compromise.
04:27But in any case, we have to finalize it because, as you know, as of January 1st, 2028, we have
04:34to implement the new European budget.
04:37So I think that the European citizens should vote with one thing on their mind, that EU needs to invest
04:44to its own future.
04:45EU needs to invest to its capability not only to react, but to act, primarily to act.
04:52So I'm optimistic that the people across various European countries will make the right decision when they're going to vote.
04:59So I think that the European countries will make the right decision when they're going to vote.
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