National Economy and Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis expressed his support, in an interview with Naftemporiki newspaper published on Monday, for the European Commission's proposal to impose a 2.0-euro handling fee for retail purchases ordered online from third countries, as it responds to the unfair competition faced by Greek small and medium-sized enterprises.

Asked about the European Commission's intention to tax digital transactions on goods from Asian countries, Pierrakakis stressed that "we support the European proposal and I have discussed it with the Slovak Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič. I will do the same today with the Dutch Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra, with whom I am about to meet at the Ministry of Finance. Europe is moving towards introducing a handling fee on e-commerce transactions, i.e. on online sales from third countries. The amount being discussed is 2 euros on each of the billions of small packages of cheap, mainly Asian, products. This development will generate significant new revenue and is a response to the unfair competition facing Greek small and medium-sized enterprises as well."

Regarding US President Donald Trump's intention to impose a 50% tariff on European products, Pierrakakis pointed out the following: "Greece, from the very beginning, was against protectionism in trade on both sides of the Atlantic; we were the first to even talk about zero tariffs. I conveyed the Greek position to my US counterpart Scott Bessant during my recent visit to Washington. The Greek economy is off to a good start: with growth more than double that of Europe, with surpluses and rapid debt reduction. However, we are deeply concerned about the secondary effects of the tariffs. A possible new wave of high prices will affect Greece. We are concerned about the instability that will halt the pace of investment. Uncertainty is the silent enemy of every economy. We will stand by the European Commission in these difficult negotiations and hope that diplomacy will be given time and a mutually beneficial solution will be found. However, the message to eliminate unnecessary obstacles is also addressed to our European partners. We must also abolish intra-European restrictions that are equivalent to 110% tariffs. The time has come to not just invoke the Draghi report and its views but to implement its recommendations."