In January 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Europe, leading to a health crisis with major socio-economic consequences. The EU’s response was immediate, putting in place — among others — a temporary recovery instrument, NextGenerationEU, designed to raise €806.9 billion in addition to the regular EU budget in financial markets.

The core of NextGenerationEU is the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the largest EU funding programme to date, projected to disburse up to €723.8 billion in grants and loans to Member States. The RRF Regulation entered into force in February 2021, stipulating that each Member State will submit a National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) identifying the reforms and investments that the Member State commits to implement.

The National Recovery and Resilience Plan Greece 2.0 was adopted on 13 July 2021 by the Economic and Financial Affairs Council of the European Union (Ecofin). Greece 2.0 includes 106 investments and 68 reforms, structured around four pillars: Green Transition, Digital Transformation, Employment-Skills-Social Cohesion, Private Investments and Transformation of the Economy.

It raises €31.16 billion to be channeled through grants and loans and is expected to mobilize €60 billion of total investment in the country by the end of 2026, when all projects should have been implemented.