Johannes Hahn: Today the first € 3.55 billion were disbursed to Greece from the Recovery Fund

“Today the first 3.55 billion were disbursed from the Recovery Fund to Greece.” This was announced by the European Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget of the European Union, Johannes Hahn in the context of the 7th Delphi Economic Forum, which takes place in Delphi on April 6-9 and is under the auspices of the SA. of the President of the Republic, Mrs. Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

In particular, as he stated, “Through the Recovery and Resilience Fund (RRF), we want to place particular emphasis on the resilience of states.” As he put it: “We must not just recover, we must make our economies more resilient and more competitive.”

In particular, regarding Greece, the Austrian Commissioner stressed regarding the 3.55 billion, that 1.6 relate to European subsidies, while the remaining amount is covered by borrowing through the RRF.

The European Commissioner also stated that: “What we are asking from Greece is to make investments in RES, as it is the only way to get away from fossil fuels as well as investments in energy efficiency”.

In addition, as he said: “The initiative, Greece – Cyprus – Egypt for the transfer of natural gas, must be continued. This will increase the resilience of the economy, while he made special reference to the need for investment in the digital transition.

He also referred to the issuance of bonds to strengthen the competitiveness of the European economy. As he said: “The EU has decided to proceed with the issuance of bonds amounting to 100 billion euros for last year, while so many more will be issued this year.”

“We are well equipped to withstand this crisis as well. The ‘Next Generation EU’ program is enough to deal with it,” the experienced politician clarified. “The pandemic is disappearing and we have to face a new crisis with the war,” he said.

In fact, as far as Ukraine is concerned, Mr Hahn emphasized that “we need to move forward with a European Marshall Plan in order to help it rebuild and accelerate its entry into the EU.”

Regarding the European response to the Ukraine issue, he said: “We reacted quickly and correctly because we were prepared from last autumn, as we were already working on scenarios, after we had seen a concentration of troops on the border with Ukraine, although no one believed we would be He added: “The sanctions were the result of careful preparation.”

He also noted that the 5th round of sanctions related to the restriction of imports of fossil fuels from Russia has already been announced. “We do not want to escalate sanctions, but more may need to be done,” he said, adding, however, that a “settlement of the war as soon as possible” was needed.

“Europeans are united and we are reacting well,” he said, adding: “We must support the Ukrainians, but at the same time we must reduce the conflict to avoid a third world war.

He also described European measures as adequate to tackle the grain crisis, and referred to the role of the EU. to curb rising energy prices, and food prices.

“We have allowed states to reduce taxes,” he said, adding that “more than 70 million people and millions of SMEs are benefiting from measures to tackle the energy crisis, while activating primary production funding to finance high costs.” .

Mr. Hahn clarified that there is food security in the EU, while a request for the EU. are cheap supplies and energy efficient.

Finally, the European Commissioner emphasized the need to strengthen the circular economy, saying: “At first glance, the circular economy is about recycling, but by recovering raw materials we can reduce our dependence on third countries”, describing it as one from issues “that will give us increased sovereignty, more prestige, more value globally”.