The Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors was chaired for the first time by Kyriakos Pierrakakis, President of the Eurogroup and Greek Minister of Finance.

A warm welcome was extended to Governor Šircelj (Slovenia), Governor Kučinskis (Latvia) and Gălăb Donev, Minister of Finance and Observer for Bulgaria who were attending a Board of Governors meeting for the first time.

Governors and their delegations were invited to view the new building maquette, providing an early visual impression of the project and its overall design.

Before the meeting, in the presence of Mr Donev, Pierre and Bulgarian colleagues, the Bulgarian flag was added to the ESM flag line-up in view of Bulgaria's accession as 21st Member of the ESM on 29 June 2026.

Bulgaria has ratified both the existing and the amended ESM treaty and deposited the instruments of accession with the Secretariat of the Council.

At the meeting, Pierre presented the key institutional developments and the financial results of the year 2025. In particular, he highlighted that the ESM’s net income rose to nearly €1.97 billion in 2025, the highest since the institution’s inception in 2012. He also provided an overview of the activities of the ESM over the past year, including those related to funding, investment and lending, highlighting how the ESM’s actions in 2025 continued to reflect its core values, reinforcing resilience, fostering solidarity among Members, and underpinning the institution’s credibility in a more complex global environment, in line with the recent refresh of the ESM values.

'The ESM continues to stand resilient, solidary and credible, ready to act in support of a stable euro area as a foundation for a strong and united Europe.' 

A discussion on “Navigating Global Challenges”, introduced by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, provided Governors with an opportunity to engage in a forward-looking dialogue on the evolving global landscape and the challenges ahead. 

The Board of Governors approved the 2025 ESM Annual Report, including a description of the ESM’s policies and activities and the financial statements. Both the Board of Auditors’ annual report and the ESM management comments issued in response will be provided to the national parliaments and national supreme audit institutions of ESM Members, the European Parliament, and the European Court of Auditors. The 2025 ESM Annual Report is now available on the ESM’s website. In addition, the external auditor was reappointed for the financial years 2026, 2027 and 2028 and the Board of Governors amended the pricing guideline.

'It is clear that the current geopolitical and economic context calls for exploring all possible options to support Europe's competitiveness and resilience, including those using the ESM to its full potential.’