Greece Submits National Recovery Plan to EU

Photo Source: @European Commission

The Greek government submitted the final draft of its ambitious national recovery plan to the European Commission, which is aimed at dealing with the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic, hoping to have the first disbursement in before the end of the summer.

Dubbed Greece 2.0, the four-pillar plan is expected to pave the way for the country’s recovery with 170 actions worth 60 billion euros (together with private sector support) to be channeled into digital transformation, boosting employment, enhancing health, education, and social cohesion, the green economy, and attracting investment.

Presenting the plan last month, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he expects it will stimulate economic growth by 7 percentage points over the next six years and create 200,000 jobs.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis presenting the Greece 2.0 recovery plan. Photo source: @PrimeministerGR

Mitsotakis said it was a “unique chance for Greece which should be missed”, during a meeting earlier on Wednesday, with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

Greece is the third EU country together with Germany and Portugal to submit its recovery plan to Brussels, where the Commission will assess it in the next two months. Based on the Commission’s proposal, the Council will have four weeks to adopt the proposal clearing the way for the disbursement of 4.1 billion euros to Greece (or 13 percent pre-financing).

As part of the EU’s 750-billion-euro Covid-19 recovery package, Greece has requested a total of 32 billion euros in support – grants and loans – to stimulate capital worth 57.4 billion euros in total.

“We’ve taken the first step,” said Alternate Finance Ministry Theodore Skylakakis. “Now follows an even more difficult task of absorbing the fund’s considerable resources, which will allow the country to implement not only a dynamic recovery, but to enter a permanent long-term course of development and change of its productive model for the benefit of the entire Greek society,” he said.

Λάβαμε το 🇬🇷 Σχέδιο Ανάκαμψης και Ανθεκτικότητας

Χαίρομαι για την έμφαση σε καίριους τομείς όπως πράσινη & ψηφιακή μετάβαση, απασχόληση, δεξιότητες, ιδιωτικές επενδύσεις & μεταρρυθμίσεις.

Μετά την αξιολόγηση η 🇬🇷 θα μπορέσει να λάβει μέχρι €30,5 δισ. μέσω του #NextGenerationEU

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) April 28, 2021

European Commission President Ursula von de Leyen expressed her satisfaction with the Greek plan. “We received Greece’s Recovery and Resilience Plan. I am happy to see a focus on key areas such as green & digital transition, employment, skills, private investment & reform. Following the assessment, Greece will be able to receive up to 30.5 billion euros through #NextGenerationEU,” she said via her twitter account.