Greece leads in National Recovery Plans resources as a percentage of GDP and will not lose any funds from the Recovery Fund, emphasized Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance Nikos Papathanasis during his address in Parliament today. He highlighted the government’s aim to apply for and secure 80% of the Recovery Fund resources by the end of the year.
Papathanasis was addressing a query from New Left Party President Alexis Haritsis regarding the government’s intention to redirect funds from the Recovery and Resilience Fund to the defense sector and armaments.
Haritsis pointed out that the timeline for completing the TAF program is underway and urged Parliament to clarify the government’s strategic plan to ensure the country does not miss out on resources. He questioned if the government would redirect funds either due to pressures from the European Union and the U.S. or to avoid losing financial support to the military industry.
“The country requires significant investments in infrastructure, including essential public projects such as flood control initiatives that have recently been withdrawn from the Recovery and Resilience Fund. We also need actions focused on green energy, renewable resources, digitalization of public services, and support for workers facing declining purchasing power,” Papathanasis stated.
Regarding funding disbursements, Greece retains the top position at 9.7% of GDP for 2023—according to recently released figures— with total receipts amounting to 18.2 billion euros. The deputy minister noted that Greece has accessed 59.4% of the expected funds, ranking sixth among European nations. In terms of completed milestones for Development Fund projects, Greece holds the fifth position with 43% fulfillment of payment requests and ranks fourth with five claims made out of twenty-seven countries.
The deputy minister reiterated the government’s objective for Greece to apply for and obtain 80% of the CDF by year-end and outlined the forthcoming steps: “Currently, we are finalizing negotiations regarding the Recovery Fund revisions, which involve all European member states. We anticipate completion by the end of June or early July, at which point we plan to submit our sixth payment request of €3.9 billion. This request will increase the total funds received from 60% to 71%. In November, we will seek an additional €3.5 billion, and if the seventh request follows as planned within the year, we will achieve our target of 80% disbursement.”
The European Commission, according to the deputy minister, intends to conduct a review of all member states around October. “Our focus has been on five critical areas: the green transition, digital transformation, employment, skills and social cohesion, private investment, and economic transformation, along with the RePowerEU initiative for energy independence,” he added regarding the review updates.
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