Indeed, today the Eurogroup held its first meeting in what will be a very consequential year for the euro area economy, and the first meeting under the chairmanship of Minister Pierrakakis.
This meeting offered a timely opportunity to focus our attention on the policy priorities for the period ahead.
The increasingly challenging external environment means that we should look for domestic drivers of growth.
This means redoubling our efforts to enhance our competitiveness and unlock Europe's full growth potential.
So, we held a constructive exchange of views on achieving this objective based on the Commission's euro area recommendation for 2026.
The recommendation was first published in November as part of the European Semester Autumn Package.
It calls on Member States to take action across a broad range of policy areas, which includes ensuring compliance with the fiscal rules to safeguard fiscal sustainability, making use of the flexibility within the fiscal framework for defence spending, and completing the implementation of recovery and resilience plans by the August 2026 deadline.
It has never been more important to make progress, given the increasingly complex and challenging geopolitical landscape that Europe must navigate.
So, we have a great deal of work ahead of us this year.
Then for the euro area, 2026 began on a very positive note.
Bulgaria adopting the euro on the first of January marked a historic moment for Bulgaria, for the euro area and for the European Union as a whole.
It was the end of a long and demanding period of preparation and the beginning of a new chapter filled with opportunity.
Of course, the changeover to the euro is a complex process.
So today we heard an update from Minister Petkova on progress so far.
And we welcome that the transition from the lev to the euro continues to proceed smoothly.
It is thanks to the extensive technical preparations and effective communication campaigns undertaken by the Bulgarian authorities.
Finally, the Eurogroup was deciding on the successor to the current ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos.
As Kyriakis just mentioned, the meeting reached a consensus on the candidacy of Boris Vujčic.
Congratulations to Governor Vujčic on this.
It is not the end of the process, but I would say that it is an important step forward in this process.
