Once again the Chairman of IENE was invited to participate in the prestigious annual Greek-British Symposium which this year took place in Athens, at the Athenian Riviera on October 8-10.
Conceived as high level bilateral forum for the exchange of views and ideas between Greek and UK professionals, the Symposium this year marked its 10th anniversary. A privately led and largely sponsorship -funded initiative, delivered under the guidance of a Steering Committee, in partnership with the Delphi Economic Forum, and with the support of the Greek Embassy London, the British Embassy Athens and the British Council.
The themes of the 2026 Symposium covered diverse topics such as The New Geoeconomic Landscape, Defence and Innovation, Education and Culture and Energy Security and Affordability. Keynote speakers included Harry Theocharis, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, General Dimitrios Houpis, Professor Elias Papaioannou at the London Business School and Professor Ioannis Maniatis, Member of the European Parliament.
The “ Energy Security and Affordability”panel which was held in the afternoon of October 9, focused on the need to prioritise energy security and affordability over sustainability, in view of increased geopolitical turbulence and growing market uncertainty. Until now European energy policies focused largely on the adverse environmental impact of fossil fuels. However,this has proved detrimental to Europe’s competitiveness and it has also undermined energy security. Economic growth requires continuous energy flow, which poses a huge security and affordability challenge. Energy security equals multiple sources, unconstrained connectivity, and the correct signals to consumers and investors, whilst affordability requires cheap sourcing and market integration.
In this context the redesign and integration of electricity and gas markets has emerged as key challenge, together with the redrafting of regulatory frameworks. Adopting common gas procurement and jointly funding connectivity will enable Europe to grow faster and become more competitive.Dealing with the same problems, Britain and Greece can learn from each other and work together in tracking them.
The above were some of the issues discussed by the “Energy Security & Affordability” session which was moderated by the Chairman of IENE, Mr.Costis Stambolis. The session started with a presentation by Michael Bradshaw, Professor of Global Energy at Warwick Business School. After the presentation a lively discussion ensued between the panelists which included the following:
George Alexopoulos,Deputy CEO at Helleniq Energy, Konstantinos Bikas,Ambassador (ret), International Business Director, METLEN Energy & Metals, Nick Butler, Visiting Professor,Kings College London,Emilios Melis, Partner, Deals and Strategy, Head of Strategy,PwC, Athens and Jayesh Parmar,Managing Director, Capemere Ventures Ltd, UK
