Speaking at the Morgan Stanley roadshow conference in London, in a discussion with Euronext CEO Stephane Boujnah, Greek Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis called the accession of ATHEX—the Athens Stock Exchange—into the pan-European stock exchange network a historic moment.

“Euronext is one of Europe’s success stories, and we are very proud that Athens will become part of this network,” he noted.

Pierrakakis described Euronext’s acquisition of the Athens Stock Exchange as strategic and emblematic, stressing that it will open new horizons for the Greek economy.

“It will act as a catalyst for the growth of Greek companies, both large and small and medium-sized enterprises,” he said. Access to a much larger pool of investment liquidity and expertise, he added, will strengthen the resilience of the economy on multiple levels.

The Greek finance minister emphasized the need to complete the EU’s single capital market, saying Europe “must move from declarations to action.”

“The biggest missed opportunity of our generation would be failing to complete the Savings and Investment Union,” he said, pointing to national reservations that slow down progress.

He also stressed that fiscal discipline has now become “a hard-won achievement for an entire generation in Greece,” noting that the collective trauma of the crisis has led to a fundamental shift in political culture.

The Greek minister highlighted Europe’s need to invest strategically in areas where it remains “close to the technological frontier,” adopting a bolder industrial policy.

“We need to remove the obstacles from this market and focus on sectors where we can lead,” he said, citing Euronext as “a decisive step in that direction” for Greece.

Stephane Boujnah: The integration of the Athens Stock Exchange into Euronext is a natural evolution

“Today, ten years later, all the countries once labeled ‘PIGS’ borrow more cheaply than France and the United Kingdom,” Euronext CEO Stéphane Boujnah said. He noted that the integration of the Greek capital market—and the broader ecosystem surrounding it—into Euronext’s single market was a natural evolution for a country that “produces more than it can absorb.”