George Zavvos
Deputy Minister of Finance in charge of the Financial System
George Zavvos has served at the European institutions for over 30 years as a Member of the European Parliament (M.E.P.), European Commission Ambassador and Legal Adviser at the Legal Service of the European Commission.
Between 1990 – 1994 he was elected as Member of the European Parliament( M.E.P;) he was member of the Legal and Citizens’ Rights Committee [Rapporteur on the Directive on capital adequacy of banks and investment firms and on the Directive on the freedom of management and investment of funds held by institutions for retirement provision], the Budgets Committee [EP Rapporteur on the Financial Regulation of the EU (1993)] and the Budgetary Control Committee [EP
Rapporteur on EIB and EBRD; Standing Rapporteur of the EP on borrowing and lending to Central and Eastern European Countries]. He was also Chairman of the Committee for the Reform of the Greek Banking System which introduced the Greek Banking Law of 1992 (1991-1993).
Between 1994-1997, he was appointed the first European Commission Ambassador and Head of Delegation to the Slovak Republic.
Between 2002 and 2017, Mr Zavvos was a Legal Adviser at the Legal Service of the European Commission at the Business Law Team (Banks and insurance; Stock exchanges and securities markets;) and the MIME (Internal Market) Team (Free movement of goods; Industry SMEs, Environment; Energy). In the 1980s he worked at the European Commission’s DG for Financial Institutions and Company Law (DG XV) where he was in charge of drafting and negotiating the Second Banking
Directive that introduced the passporting for banks in the EU, the cornerstone of EU banking legislation.
The period between 2018 – 2019 MrZavvos was Senior Advisor on Economy and Finance at the Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels.
Mr. Zavvos was Professor at the Solvay Business School (ULB) (1991-1993) and Visiting Professor at Queen Mary, University of London (2004-2007). He holds a Bachelor of Laws from Athens University and a postgraduate Degree on EU Law from the College of Europe (Bruges). He has written and lectured extensively on EU banking and financial services law matters. He is Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Economics in Bratislava (2004) and has been awarded the Double Cross of the Slovak Republic.