Commission endorses Recovery and Resilience Fund installment
The European Commission on Friday announced the approval of the second installment from the Recovery and Resilience Fund to Greece, amounting to 3.6 million euros, following the request submitted by the government at the end of September.
The tranche consists of €1.7 billion in grants and €1.9 billion in loans.
“Excellent news for Greece today. The country has made sufficient progress in the implementation of its national recovery plan to receive a second payment under NextGenerationEU. Once Member States will have given their green light, Greece will receive €3.6 billion,” said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
“Greece is driving forward ambitious reforms in key areas such as renewable energy, railway infrastructure, public transportation and the digitalization of SMEs. Greece is also encouraging new investments in tourism, manufacturing and agriculture. Importantly, it has also delivered on its commitments on audit and control to protect taxpayers’ money.”
In September, the government submitted to the Commission a payment request based on the achievement of the 28 milestones and targets laid out for the second instalment. They cover reforms and investments promoting the use of renewable energy so as to make the electricity market fit for a high share of renewables. They also include reorganizing the railway sector to develop, operate and maintain a modern railway network, opening up the public bus transportation market to improve services and to promote a greener bus fleet.
Other reforms and investments support the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as interconnecting payment terminals with the tax administration, incentivizing green and digital investments by the private sector, encouraging small companies to grow and export, enhancing the supervision of capital markets, creating new funding opportunities for research and encouraging new investments in the tourism, manufacturing and agriculture sectors.
The Commission has now sent its positive preliminary assessment of Greece’s fulfilment of the milestones and targets required for this payment to the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC), asking for its opinion. The EFC’s opinion, to be delivered within a maximum of four weeks, should be taken into account in the Commission’s assessment. Following the EFC’s opinion, the Commission will adopt the final decision on the disbursement of the financial contribution.
