Ioannis Vroutsis (1 June 1963,

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

) is a Greek economist, lawyer and politician, serving as the

New Democracy New Democracy, or the New Democratic Revolution, is a concept based on Mao Zedong's Bloc of Four Social Classes theory in Chinese Communist Revolution, post-revolutionary China which argued originally that democracy in China would take a path ...

MP for

Cyclades The Cyclades (; el, Κυκλάδες, ) are an island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The nam ...

and serving as a parliamentary spokesman for New Democracy since 5 January 2021, having previously served as Minister of Labour, Social Security and Welfare in 21 June 2012 - 27 January 2015 and 9 July 2019 - 5 January 2021.

Early life and education

Vroutsis was born in

on 1 June 1963 and is originally from

Naxos Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best abr ...

and

Amorgos Amorgos ( el, Αμοργός, ; ) is the easternmost island of the Cyclades island group and the nearest island to the neighboring Dodecanese island group in Greece. Along with 16 neighboring islets, the largest of which (by land area) is Niko ...

. He studied economics at the School of Law, Economics and Political Sciences of the

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

, where he was awarded a scholarship. He also holds a master's degree from

Panteion University The Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences ( el, Πάντειον Πανεπιστήμιο Κοινωνικών και Πολιτικών Επιστημών), usually referred to simply as the Panteion University, is a university loc ...

. He has previously worked as an economist at the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Eco ...

Political career

He began to participate in politics as a member of the ND Youth. He has twice been a member of the Executive Committee as Secretary of the

MAKI Maki may refer to: People *Mäki, a Finnish surname (includes a list of people with the name) *Maki (name), a Japanese given name and surname (includes a list of people with the name) Places *Maki, Ravar, Kerman Province, Iran *Maki, Rigan, Ke ...

and as the Head of Basin organizations. He had an active and long-standing involvement in local government. He served as a

municipal councilor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

Vyronas Vyronas ( el, Βύρωνας) is a suburban town and a municipality in the southeastern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. The town is named after George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, the famous English poet and writer, who is a national h ...

in 1990. He was first elected Member of Parliament for the

in 2007, and was re-elected in 2009,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

First term as Minister of Labor

He served as New Democracy's Chief Policy Officer from 2009 to 2011, when he was appointed ND's chief financial officer under

Antonis Samaras Antonis Samaras ( el, Αντώνης Σαμαράς, ; born 23 May 1951) is a Greek politician who served as 14th Prime Minister of Greece from 2012 to 2015. A member of the New Democracy party, he was its president from 2009 until 2015. Samara ...

. On 21 June 2012, he took up the post of Minister of Labour, Social Security and Welfare in the coalition government of Antonis Samaras.

In Opposition

Following the 2015 national elections, on 5 February 2015, by decision of the party president, he is appointed along with

Kyriakos Mitsotakis Kyriakos Mitsotakis ( el, Κυριάκος Μητσοτάκης, ; born 4 March 1968) is a Greek politician serving as the prime minister of Greece since 8 July 2019. A member of the New Democracy (Greece), New Democracy, he has been its presi ...

and

Adonis Georgiadis Spyridon-Adonis Georgiadis ( el, Σπυρίδων-Άδωνις Γεωργιάδης; born 6 November 1972), better known as Adonis Georgiadis, is a Greek right-wing populist politician, telemarketer and publisher. A former member of the Popular O ...

as a party parliamentary spokesman. On 13 January 2016, by the decision of the new party president

, he was re-appointed as parliamentary spokesman of New Democracy alongside

Nikos Dendias Nikolaos "Nikos" Dendias ( el, Νικόλαος Δένδιας; born 7 October 1959) is a Greek lawyer and politician of the conservative New Democracy party. He is a Member of the Hellenic Parliament for Athens, and was Minister for National ...

and

Niki Kerameus Niki Kerameus (, , ) is a Greek lawyer and politician and the current Minister of Education and Religious Affairs, appointed by Kyriakos Mitsotakis. She was born in Thessaloniki on July 18, 1980 and is a member of the New Democracy party. K ...

Second term as Minister of Labor

Following the 2019 election and the formation of a Mitsotakis government, Ioannis Vroutsis was appointed Minister of Labor and Social Affairs. His first act as Minister of Labor was to remove the ability to apply for a social security number from foreigners residing in Greece. In April 2020, during the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, he announced a voucher program for scientists (lawyers, engineers/architects, educators and others) where they would complete a basic computer training program in exchange for a 600 euro voucher. The implementation of the program was plagued by various technical difficulties and the content was characterized by the opposition as low quality, consisting of scanned and poorly translated pages of books. The program was eventually pulled and vouchers were given out without conditions. He was replaced by

Kostis Hatzidakis Konstantinos (Kostis) Hatzidakis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος (Κωστής) Χατζηδάκης; born 20 April 1965 in Rethymno) is a Greek politician of New Democracy who has been serving as the Minister for Labor and Social Affairs in the ...

during the January 5th 2021

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

reshuffle.

Member of Parliament (2019-)

After leaving the Mitsotakis cabinet in January 2021, he was once again placed in the position of Parliamentary spokesperson. In March 2021, he stated in an interview to the Documento newspaper that TV personality Menios Fourthiotis had entered his ministry office with his private security team and threatened him over his attempt to stop a fraud case involving himself.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vroutsis, Giannis Living people 1963 births Panteion University alumni 20th-century Greek economists Government ministers of Greece National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni Politicians from Athens Greek MPs 2019–2023 21st-century Greek economists