Next Generation EU

In December, the government is set to submit a new request—its fifth so far—to the Recovery Fund for a disbursement of €3.3 billion. This request is part of a €36 billion program, equivalent to roughly 20% of Greece’s GDP, making it proportionally the largest in Europe.

The European Commission said on Monday it had approved a Greek measure to support the construction of a carbon storage facility at Prinos with 150 million euros made available through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), under EU state aid rules.

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Following the European Commission's disbursement to Greece of 1 billion euros in grants from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) on Wednesday, the total amount disbursed to Greece amounts to €18.2 billion, more than 50% of the total budget of the Greece 2.0 national plan.

The European Commission highlighted in its annual report that the implementation of Greece's Recovery and Resilience Plan is progressing smoothly, though "increased efforts" are needed for timely execution.

The Bank of Greece forecasts slightly accelerated growth rates in 2024-2025, in its "Note on the Greek Economy" report, published on Monday. It forecast an increase in the country's gross domestic product by 2.2% from 2% in 2023, while in 2025 the rate is expected to increase to 2.5% of GDP before easing back to 2.3% in 2026.

The European Commission has endorsed a positive preliminary assessment of Greece's fourth payment request for 998.6 million euros in grants (net of pre-financing) under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the centerpiece of NextGenerationEU, on Wednesday.

Last year the 27 EU member states averaged 0.4% growth. “The German economy even contracted by 0.3%, […] while France and Italy have so far failed to show any convincing growth momentum,” writes the German National Network of Journalists (RND).

One reason the negotiations over a European Union contribution to the new housing loan subsidy program are still going on is that the EU wants the houses that will be eligible for loan subsidies to be upgraded to become more energy efficient. 

As a rule, 38% of the funding provided by the Recovery and Resilience Fund should go to activities benefiting the environment. 

The project “Internationalisation of educational services of higher education institutions” of the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sport is launched. It will be supported with a budget of 62 million euros.