The time for the final ratification of the new European Budget, with a horizon from 2028 to 2034, may still be far away, but in Athens, as in other European capitals, an intensive period of negotiation, fermentation and meetings is beginning.

An intense period of intensive negotiations and meetings and discussions are underway.
To begin with, Greece has a remarkable figure to go by, namely the prospect of receiving 49.2 billion euros from the EU funds for the six years in question. Of the total package of 2 trillion euros that Ursula von der Leyen is putting “on the table”, our country has received 49.2 billion euros from the general allocation of resources, 3.5 billion euros for the area of migration, security, international affairs and 2.8 billion euros from the social climate fund.

Of course, as competent sources point out to “THEMA”, the substantial negotiations in the General Affairs Council and at the level of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) are now beginning, with countries taking up battle positions. In this light, it was no coincidence that former Shipping Minister Costis Moussouroulis was appointed as an advisor to the government’s vice-presidency, with responsibility for coordinating the negotiations on the EU’s multiannual financial framework.

Mr. Moussouroouloulis has been a Commission official for almost 25 years and a member of Kostis Hatzidakis’ close circle and is expected to handle the “Greek dossier”, always in consultation with the Mansion House, which gives the general directions.

Besides, a few weeks ago, a relevant meeting was held at the vice-presidency of the government with the participation of the relevant ministers, in order to define the Greek priorities given the negotiations. As competent sources point out, the discussion will not be easy, as any discussion of similar magnitude, as the ‘thrifty’ countries do not want to pay more and the countries of the South do not want to lose critical resources.

Slim Balances

As in any budget debate, the devil is always in the details. Competent sources compare, for example, the 49.2 billion that Greece has received in principle with the 33.5 billion earmarked for Portugal, a country of similar size and scope in the European south, and note this difference with satisfaction.

But the distribution of funds is also crucial, as the criticism of the new framework is that it takes resources away from the Common Agricultural Policy and Cohesion Funds in favour of other funds, such as Competitiveness, which can nevertheless support the objectives of cohesion. “Things are not black and white, however, and a flexibility is given to each country to use financial instruments from different sources for each purpose,” sources said, foreshadowing a difficult debate.

In the previous budget, adopted in 2020 and covering the period 2021-2027, Greece received just over €21bn from the NSRF, €4bn from the CAP and €15bn in direct aid. But it also had the exceptional resources provided by the Recovery Fund (grants and loans) and the Fair Transition Fund, with a total “cushion” of more than €55 billion. In this respect, we are entering a regular financing environment, which is proportionally increased compared to the previous framework.

In any case, the negotiation ahead is complex and one of the battles that Greece has to fight is not to reduce the amount it has in principle received from the new European budget. “We should neither celebrate nor go directly against it,” a source said, not ignoring the fact that the European People’s Party (in which the New Democracy party is a member and Mr. Hatzidakis is one of the vice-presidents) strongly disagreed with the philosophy of the budget, echoing to a large extent the disagreement of the German Christian Democrats.

Beyond that, a second priority is maximum flexibility to mobilise resources from individual European funds. At the level of European leaders, the discussion is expected to probably reach the Summit Council next December, but we are still far from a final agreement. It should be noted that in the second half of 2027 our country will hold the presidency of the European Union.