FAROS AI Factory, Tax Reforms, and EU Presidency Prep Headline Greece's Cabinet Meeting

Greek Cabinet Convenes on AI Factory, Tax Cooperation, and Agency Reforms - What Government Teams Need to Know

The Cabinet meets today, Wednesday, October 29, at the Maximos Mansion under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. At 6:00 p.m., the Prime Minister will speak at the unveiling ceremony of the new bioclimatic façade at the Ministry of National Defence's central building.

Agenda at a glance

• Initiatives to make the state more citizen-friendly and improve the business environment (presented by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State Kostis Hatzidakis).
• Reforms reorganizing the National Payment Agency and transitioning functions from OPEKEPE to the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) - joint presentation by Hatzidakis, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, and Kostas Tsiaras.
• Legislative initiatives on EU tax administrative cooperation (Directives 2023/2226 and 2025/872) and the new National Development Program - presented by Pierrakakis, Nikos Papathanasis, and Giorgos Kotsiras.
• Draft bill to establish the Greek Artificial Intelligence Factory "FAROS AI Factory" (presented by Digital Governance Minister Dimitris Papastergiou).
• Briefing on the 2025 wildfire prevention and response season (by Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Giannis Kefalogiannis).
• Proposal to form a Government Committee for Greece's Presidency of the Council of the European Union (by Foreign Affairs Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis).
• Proposal to create a Government Committee to advance the international outreach of the Greek economy (by Minister Gerapetritis).

What this means for ministries, agencies, and local authorities

• Tax and finance teams: prepare for expanded data sharing and reporting under EU administrative cooperation. Coordinate early with AADE for technical specs, data quality, and timelines.
• Organizations interacting with OPEKEPE: map the impact of the transition to AADE on payment cycles, audits, IT interfaces, and citizen service. Secure continuity plans and service-level agreements.
• Digital and policy units: get ready for "FAROS AI Factory." Inventory priority AI use cases, identify data sources, and draft baseline safeguards (privacy, model risk, ethics, procurement).
• Civil protection and municipalities: confirm wildfire readiness - staffing, equipment, mutual-aid protocols, and public alerting. Update local SOPs to match national guidance for 2025.
• Economic diplomacy teams: prepare sector lists and target markets for the new outreach committee. Propose metrics (investment leads, trade missions, time-to-close).
• Secretariat/PMO: set milestones, inter-ministerial working groups, and reporting cadence to track the legislative package and implementation.

FAROS AI Factory: prepare your position

The draft bill will define mandate, governance, and how agencies engage. Expect discussion on common infrastructure, shared models, and standards for safe deployment.

Bring a clear view of your top two or three AI use cases, required datasets, security constraints, and the procurement path. Flag where sandboxes, testing environments, or shared services would cut costs or reduce delivery time.

EU tax administrative cooperation: practical implications

EU Directives 2023/2226 and 2025/872 expand cooperation and data exchange across member states. That means tighter timelines, stronger validation, and new reporting flows for public bodies and supervised entities.

• Assign an owner for schema updates, legal basis checks, and data-sharing agreements.
• Audit current data pipelines for accuracy, retention, and access controls.
• Plan integration tests with AADE before go-live to prevent filing delays.

Background on administrative cooperation is available from the European Commission. See: Administrative cooperation in taxation.

OPEKEPE → AADE transition: ensure service continuity

The transition affects payment operations, controls, and interfaces with beneficiaries. Agencies should clarify ownership, cutover dates, and citizen communications early.

• Confirm points of contact at AADE and update escalation paths.
• Validate data migration plans and parallel-run windows.
• Publish clear guidance for beneficiaries to reduce support tickets.

Agency teams can monitor formal updates via AADE: Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE).

New National Development Program: budget and delivery

Expect alignment of funding with measurable outcomes and tighter program controls. Prepare project lists with cost-benefit summaries, delivery risks, and quick wins that can move within the current fiscal cycle.

Wildfire season 2025: readiness checklist

• Update risk maps, fuel management schedules, and aerial support availability.
• Run pre-season drills with regional and municipal teams; verify inter-agency radio and data links.
• Refresh public communication templates and crisis coordination protocols.

EU Council Presidency and economic outreach: coordination

The Presidency committee will need early inputs on priorities, staffing, and logistics. The outreach committee will look for sector playbooks, investor pipelines, and country-by-country plans.

Immediate next steps (30-90 days)

• Track publication of draft bills and circulate impact notes within 72 hours.
• Stand up working groups for AI Factory, tax cooperation, and payment agency transition.
• Schedule joint IT-legal reviews for data-sharing and procurement implications.
• Define KPIs and monthly reporting for each reform strand.

Optional upskilling for public teams

If your unit is scoping AI roles or training plans, this curated index can help you map courses by job function: AI courses by job.