Greece's new Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis says he wants to see a pan-European agreement to encourage growth and help the continent deal with Greece's crisis.

The new anti-austerity Syriza-led government wants "a pan-European 'New Deal' that will lead Europe to a reboot", Varoufakis told reporters as he took over the post on Wednesday.

He said a new agreement was needed "to reduce the cost of the self-perpetuating Greek crisis, not just for the Greek citizen, but the citizen of Slovakia, the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Germany, every citizen of Europe."

Varoufakis said it was wrong to characterise Greece as seeking a "showdown" with the European Union over a re-negotiation of the country's 240 billion euro ($A343.8 billion) debt.

"There will be no showdown between our government and the European Union. There will be no threats, it's not about who climbs down first," Varoufakis said, wearing an open-necked shirt in the casual style of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.