Nikolas Farantouris
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Syriza (until 2026)
Nikolas Farantouris | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the European Parliament for Greece | |
| Assumed office 16 July 2024 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 January 1976 |
| Party | Independent (since 2026) Syriza (until 2026) |
Nikolas Farantouris (born 28 January 1976)[1] is a Greek academic, lawyer, and politician who has served as a member of the European Parliament since 2024.[2] He currently sits as an independent MEP, having been a member of Syriza until 7 January 2026.[3]
Nikolas Farantouris was born in Athens, Greece. He holds a law degree with honours from the University of Athens and completed his postgraduate studies at the University of Oxford, where he earned a Master of Jurisprudence (MJur) and a Doctorate (DPhil) in European Law. He was a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Rotterdam and the University of Dresden.
Academic career
Nikolas Farantouris is a Jean Monnet Professor of European and Energy Law at the Department of International and European Studies, University of Piraeus. He is widely recognized as a distinguished academic specializing in EU business law, competition law, energy law, maritime law, environmental protection, and international trade law. He founded and served for more than 10 years as the Director of the international interdisciplinary MSc Program in Energy Strategy, Law & Economics at the University of Piraeus.
He has authored 12 books[4] and monographs and over 50 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals and hundreds of articles in newspapers periodical editions. His publications are widely cited and his books published by renowned academic publishers. He has been acknowledged as the “top competition and energy law expert” by World Competition.
Legal career
Nikolas Farantouris has been practicing law since 2001. He worked with Legal & Compliance Department of Goldman Sachs in London and with the international law firm Norton Rose LLP in London, Brussels and Athens, specialising in EU law, anti-trust, shipping law, banking law and energy regulation. He has served as the Member of the Board, Head of Legal and Chairman of the Board of the Public Gas Corporation of Greece (DEPA) SA and Chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee of EUROGAS, the association of energy companies in Europe, contributing to energy policy and market regulation in Europe.
As General Counsel and Chief Legal Adviser of DEPA, Dr. Farantouris played a pivotal role in a landmark international arbitration case before the ICC Arbitration Court in Stockholm. The case involved renegotiating the natural gas supply price with the Turkish energy company BOTAS. Under his leadership, DEPA secured a significant revision of the gas pricing formula based on the weighted average import price in Germany, achieving retroactive compensation of approximately $200 million. The total compensation awarded to DEPA by the court was subsequently paid in full by BOTAS, marking a major victory for the Greek energy sector and setting a precedent in regional energy negotiations.
Political career
Nikolas Farantouris is an active member of the Coalition of the Left (Syriza) party in Greece with a significant political presence. In the national elections of May and June 2023, he was a candidate for MP with SYRIZA in the single-member constituency of Cephalonia islands and Ithaca, where he achieved one of the best scores for his party in Greece.
He ran with SYRIZA in the 2024 European Parliament elections and was successfully elected as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP).[5] In November 2024, Dr. Farantouris was also a candidate for the presidency of SYRIZA, demonstrating his commitment to leadership within the party and its future direction.[6]
As an MEP, Farantouris serves on key committees, including the Committee on Budgets (BUDG), the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) as Co-ordinator, the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) and the Committee of Security and Defence (SEDE) . He is a member of the Inter-parliamentary Delegation for Relations with the United States (D-US) and the Delegation for Relations with the Pan-African Parliament (DPAP).
He has been a strong advocate for European federalism, for policies supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), emphasizing the importance of green and digital transitions, climate change action, EU external relations and global dialogue and sustainable economic growth.
He is a Board Member of the federalist parliamentary forum, Spinelli Group.[7]
