A realistic assessment of Greece’s Recovery Fund
The government rushed to declare the ‘Greece 2.0’ recovery plan ‘nearly complete’—before all outstanding deliverables had even been finalized. Following its presentation to the cabinet, the Ministry of National Economy and Finance hailed the initiative as a ‘national success’, while simultaneously acknowledging that final payment requests are still under preparation and that remaining milestones must be submitted by week’s end. In other words, celebrations began before the checkered flag had dropped.
So far, €24.6 billion has been disbursed from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) out of Greece’s total national allocation of €36 billion. The official target remains full absorption of the funds by year-end. While political motives may explain the government’s emphasis on progress, Brussels evaluates performance strictly on delivered milestones—not press releases.
Have reforms actually been implemented?
In the same announcement, the government cites the Centre for Economic Policy Research (KEFIM) to claim that 432 of the 525 recommendations in the Pissarides Report—83%—have either been implemented or are underway thanks to Greece 2.0. Yet KEFIM’s own analysis tells a different story: only 70 proposals (13%) have been fully implemented; another 181 are partially completed; and 183 remain merely in progress, with no functional or visible outcomes yet. An additional 91 recommendations haven’t even been initiated.
There’s also a numerical inconsistency: KEFIM counts 434—not 432—recommendations within that 83% figure. More importantly, KEFIM tracks the overall status of the Pissarides proposals without attributing implementation directly to RRF funding. The government, however, makes that linkage independently—reaching a conclusion that diverges significantly from the research findings.
Volkswagen accelerates restructuring amid mounting pressure
No major automaker appears capable of halting the rapid advance of China’s auto industry—a force increasingly fracturing Europe’s manufacturing base. Add to that the uncertainty caused by Trump-era tariffs and global market volatility, and it becomes clear why Volkswagen is navigating one of the most challenging periods in its history.
Falling sales in China, high operational costs, and underperforming factory productivity have pushed management to pursue cost cuts exceeding €10 billion. CEO Oliver Blume is advancing a sweeping restructuring plan that unions estimate could lead to up to 140,000 job losses—while the company cites 100,000 position reductions. Meanwhile, Porsche AG, Volkswagen’s controlling shareholder, is pressing for deeper reform amid shrinking dividend payouts. Whether unions respond with prolonged strikes remains to be seen in the coming days.
Motor Oil posts record profits
Motor Oil reported extraordinary financial results for the first half of 2026—figures even the most optimistic analysts would have struggled to foresee just a year earlier.