Greece’s recovery and resilience plan

Greece’s recovery and resilience plan RRF FUNDED PROJECTS IN GREECE WHAT’S IN THE PLAN? Country snapshot REPowerEU measures in Greece’s plan Green transition Digital transition Economic and social resilience ANNUAL EVENTS EUROPEAN SEMESTER DOCUMENTS

Following the unprecedented crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Greece’s recovery and resilience plan has responded to the urgent need to foster a strong recovery, while making Greece’s economy and society more resilient and future ready. In response to the energy market disruption caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Commission launched the REPowerEU Plan. The Recovery and Resilience Facility is at the heart of its implementation and its funding.  Under REPowerEU, EU countries are updating their recovery and resilience plans with new measures to save energy and diversify the EU’s energy supplies. Green transition Focusing on green technologies and capacities - sustainable mobility, energy efficiency and renewables, climate change adaptation; circular economy; and biodiversity. Policies for the next generation Improving access to and the quality of general, vocational, and higher education; focusing on digital education, early childhood education and care; supporting youth employment. Smart, sustainable, inclusive growth promoting entrepreneurship, competitiveness, industrialisation; improving the business environment; fostering research, development and innovation, supporting small- and medium-sized businesses. Digital transformation Promoting the roll-out of very high-capacity networks, the digitalisation of public services, government processes, and businesses, in particular SMEs; developing basic and advanced digital skills; supporting digital-related R&D and the deployment of advanced technologies. Social and territorial cohesion Improving social and territorial infrastructure and services, including social protection and welfare systems, the inclusion of disadvantaged groups; supporting employment and skills development; creating high-quality, stable jobs. Health and economic, social and institutional resilience Improving the resilience, accessibility and quality of health and long-term care, including measures to advance their digitalisation; increasing the effectiveness of public administration systems. The map exclusively serves information purposes and is not an exhaustive database of projects supported by the Recovery and Resilience Facility. It does not reflect the distribution of the projects funded by the Recovery and Resilience Facility across the European Union, nor across different geographical areas or sectors within EU Member States. The RRF funding amounts shown for measures are based on the initial cost estimates included in the recovery and resilience plans. Furthermore, the projects showcased are without prejudice to any future assessment by the Commission in the context of verifying the satisfactory fulfilment of milestones and targets under Regulation (EU) 2021/241 establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility. Find out more about how reforms and investments in the national Recovery and Resilience Plan help citizens and businesses across Greece, from upgraded hospitals and health centres to upgraded energy supply for private homes, a multitude of online public services and new cycle lanes. And many more! The country snapshot illustrates some of the most iconic and impactful projects included in the Greek Recovery and Resilience Plan that will bring positive change for EU citizens, businesses and the EU at large. The reforms and investment in Greece’s plan are helping it become more sustainable, resilient and better prepared for the challenges and opportunities offered by the green transition and digital transition. Following Council approval of Greece’s plan on 13 July 2021, Greece’s recovery and resilience plan was updated on 16 July 2024 to introduce amendments of a technical nature. This followed the comprehensive revision of the Greek plan, also to introduce a REPowerEU chapter, which was adopted by the Council on 8 December 2023. *This value includes also the part of the plan which is financed with national resources. The transformative impact of Greece’s plan is the result of a strong combination of reforms and investment which address the country’s specific challenges. The reforms address bottlenecks to lasting and sustainable growth, while investments accelerate the transition towards a low-carbon, digital and more inclusive economy. In particular, the plan intends to facilitate the decarbonisation of the Greek economy, modernise and digitalise public administration including by improving the tax administration and justice systems, promote the innovation capacity, digital uptake and resilience of key economic sectors, and upgrade health care, education, and active labour market policies. All measures have to be implemented within a tight time frame, as the Regulation establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility requires all milestones and targets within the national plans to be completed by August 2026.  Greece’s plan now includes seven reforms and four investments to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, in line with one of the REPowerEU Plan's objectives. To finance this increased ambition, Greece has asked for a share of its Brexit Adjustment Reserve to be transferred to the plan, amounting to €25.6 million. These funds are added to Greece's REPowerEU grant of €768 million. Key measures for REPowerEU The reforms aim to facilitate the production of renewable hydrogen and bio-methane, optimise land and sea space usage for the development of renewables, promote energy sharing, energy communities and self-consumption, and introduce new non-grant based financial instruments to further support energy efficiency investments. The investments aim to support energy efficiency measures, including the installation of solar water heaters and renovations, and the promotion of renewables for self-consumption. Other investments include the scaling up of an existing measure to increase energy storage capacity, pilot projects for bio-methane and renewable hydrogen production, and support for carbon capture and storage infrastructure. Moreover, as regards the additional loans requested by Greece, there is a commitment for financial institutions to invest at least 38.5% of the funds in support for the climate transition. Together, these measures are expected to reinforce Greece’s ambition to decarbonise the economy by increasing energy efficiency and renewable capacity. Greece has expanded its renewable capacity the last years, but there remains untapped renewable energy potential. The objective of this reform is to help boost the share of renewable energy by completing the legal framework for the development of offshore wind parks. The reform will create Greece’s first national offshore wind park development programme, which will set out the marine areas within Greece’s territorial waters that are suitable for hosting offshore wind production activities. This reform is expected to contribute towards Greece reaching its target of installed offshore wind capacity by 2030 as envisaged in its National and Energy and Climate Plan. In the area of climate and environmental policies, Greece faces the challenge of increasing the share of renewables in the energy mix, for example through accelerating the development of offshore wind parks, while reducing its long-standing reliance on solid fossil fuels. More investments are also needed to energy upgrade private and public buildings, promote sustainable transport and support water supply management. Key measures for the green transition The modified plan, including the REPowerEU chapter, has further strengthened the focus of the plan on the green transition, devoting 38.1% of the available funds to measures that support climate objectives (up from 37.5% in the original plan). The investment is part of a set of actions to expand electricity interconnections for the Cyclades Islands. Digital challenges for Greece include a shortfall in connectivity, a lack of digital skills (both at basic and advanced level), a slow uptake of digital technologies, in particular by SMEs, and a low level of digital public sector services. Key measures for the digital transition The share of digital spending of the revised plan has gone down in relative terms (from 23.3% to 22.1%), however the contribution to the digital transition in absolute terms is increased compared to the original plan adopted in July 2021. The measure introduces a support scheme that supplies vouchers to SMEs which can be used for the purchase of digital technologies and related services. Key macroeconomic challenges for the Greek economy include a high government debt, incomplete external rebalancing and high non-performing loans, in a context of high unemployment and low productivity growth. A high regulatory burden, red tape and a slow and inefficient justice system hamper private investments, weighing on potential growth and employment. Key measures in reinforcing economic and social resilience This investment aims to provide vocational training to 18 ,000 refugees in Greece. Annual events facilitate the exchange of views on the state of implementation of the Recovery and resilience plans, while ensuring close cooperation between all stakeholders and providing a platform to discuss interlinks between the Plans and other Union programmes.  More information on Annual events held in Greece can be found here Greece’s plan is consistent with relevant country-specific challenges and priorities identified in the European Semester, the annual cycle of coordination and surveillance of the EU’s economic policies. For a detailed explanation of the European Semester see the following link: The European Semester explained | European Commission (europa.eu) National recovery and resilience website Original Recovery and Resilience Plan (July 2021) National recovery and resilience plan Updated Recovery and Resilience Plan (December2023) Greece 2.0 - National Recovery and Resilience Plan (greece20.gov.gr) Original Recovery and Resilience Plan (July 2021) Documents Council Implementing Decision on the approval of the assessment of the recovery and resilience plan of Greece and Annex Commission Staff Working Document: Analysis of the recovery and resilience plan of Greece Press Material Press release: "Commission endorses Greece's plan" Factsheet: Greece’s recovery and resilience plan Questions and answers: European Commission endorses Greece's plan Further Information Presentation to the Council of Greece’s recovery and resilience plan Summary of the assessment of the Greek recovery and resilience plan Updated Recovery and Resilience Plan (December 2023) Documents Council Implementing Decision amending the Implementing Decision of 13 July 2021 on the approval of the assessment of the recovery and resilience plan for Greece Revised annex to the Council Implementing Decision amending Implementing Decision of 13 July 2021 on the approval of the assessment of the recovery and resilience plan for Greece Commission Staff Working Document: Analysis of the recovery and resilience plan of Greece amending the approval of the assessment of the recovery and resilience plan of 13 July 2021 Press Material  Daily news: Greece submits request to modify recovery and resilience plan and add a REPowerEU chapter Press release: European Commission endorses Greece's €35.95 billion Updated Recovery and Resilience Plan (July 2024) Documents COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING DECISION amending Implementing Decision of 13 July 2021 on the approval of the assessment of the recovery and resilience plan for Greece  ANNEX to the COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING DECISION amending Implementing Decision of 13 July 2021 on the approval of the assessment of the recovery and resilience plan for Greece Press Material  Daily news: Commission receives Greece's fourth payment request for grants under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, and a request for a targeted revision of its recovery and resilience plan Daily news: Commission endorses Greece's request for a targeted revision of its recovery plan Updated Recovery and Resilience Plan (December 2024) Documents Commission Proposal for a COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING DECISION amending Implementing Decision of 13 July 2021 on the approval of the assessment of the recovery and resilience plan for Greece  Annex to the COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING DECISION amending Implementing Decision of 13 July 2021 on the approval of the assessment of the recovery and resilience plan for Greece COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT - Updated Climate tracking and digital tagging of the Recovery and Resilience Plan of Greece Operational arrangements between the Commission and Greece Operational Arrangements between the European Commission and Greece (revision) Pre-financing Press release: "European Commission disburses €4 billion in pre-financing to Greece" First Payment Request Documents Preliminary assessment of the first payment request of Greece Commission implementing Decision on the authorisation of the first disbursement to Greece Press Material Press release: European Commission endorses positive preliminary assessment of Greece’s first payment request” Q&A on Greece’s first payment request Daily News: Commission disburses first payment to Greece Second Payment Request Documents Preliminary assessment of the second payment request of Greece Commission implementing Decision on the authorisation of the second disbursement to Greece Press Material Press release: European Commission endorses positive preliminary assessment of Greece’s second payment request Q&A on Greece’s second payment request Daily News: Commission disburses second payment to Greece Third Payment Request Documents Preliminary assessment of the third payment request of Greece Commission implementing Decision on the authorisation of the disbursement of the third instalment of the non-repayable support and the third instalment of the loan support for Greece Press Material Daily news: Commission receives third payment request from Greece Press release: Commission endorses positive preliminary assessment of Greece's request for a €3.64 billion disbursement under the Recovery and Resilience Facility Questions and Answers on Greece's disbursement request under NextGenerationEU Press release: Commission disburses payments to DE, EL, IT, PT, SI and SK (europa.eu) Fourth Payment Request Documents Preliminary assessment of the fourth payment request for loans of Greece Commission Implementing Decision on the authorisation of the disbursement of the fourth instalment of the loan support for Greece Preliminary assessment of the fourth payment request of non-repayable support of Greece Commission implementing Decision of 8.10.2024 on the authorisation of the disbursement of the fourth instalment of the non-repayable support for Greece Press Material Daily News: Commission receives Greece´s fourth payment request for loans under the Recovery and Resilience Facility Daily News: Commission receives Greece's fourth payment request for grants under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, and a request for a targeted revision of its recovery and resilience plan Press release: Commission endorses positive preliminary assessment of Greece's fourth payment request for €2.3 billion in loans under the Recovery and Resilience Facility Daily News: Commission disburses the fourth payment for loans of €2.3 billion to Greece under the Recovery and Resilience Facility Daily News: Commission disburses the fourth payment of €998.6 million to Greece under the Recovery and Resilience Facility Fifth Payment Request Documents Preliminary assessment of the fifth payment request of Greece Commission implementing Decision on the authorisation of the disbursement of the fifth instalment of the non-repayable support and the fifth instalment of the loan support for Greece Commission implementing Decision of 16.4.2025 on the authorisation of the disbursement of the fifth instalment of the non-repayable support and the fifth instalment of the loan support for Greece  European Semester documents for Greece Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard 
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