Papathanasis: Changes are coming to the National Recovery Fund Plan with new project gaps

For upcoming “day” changes to Greece’s national plan, the Deputy Minister of Finance, spoke on an IOBE and European Commission event panel. Nikos Papathanasis made it clear that we are not talking about a complete revision of the Recovery Fund, as each country has the right to such a process and Greece has already taken advantage of it. In fact, exceptionally, due to the wounds from the summer natural disasters, the country was allowed a ‘revision of the review’ of Greece 2.0. In this context, significant changes were made, such as the redirection of resources for Thessaly, as there was now a need for EUR 3.5 billion for rehabilitation, and there were also outstanding projects that did not progress. Thus, specific changes are now being made to the table for “special and objective reasons”, and new project allocations from the Recovery Fund will be included. The Minister admitted that there are weaknesses in the execution of the project such as delaying justice and reform work in public administration. These are considered important as any new investment must have the necessary regulatory framework to enable it to function properly. Once again, Mr Papathanasis stressed the need for Europe to include targets for tackling the consequences of the climate crisis, as the Solidarity Fund is not enough. He also added that Greece is ready for the fourth payment request from the Recovery Fund for loans and subsidies by the end of April, but also for a fifth request by October. He explained, however, that the significant changes promoted in Greece 2.0 do not depend on the demands.