What’s the impact of Europe’s RRF fund on the Greek economy?

Managing the climate crisis is one of the major aspects of the European recovery plan for Greece.

A prolonged spell of drought and heat waves in 2023 fuelled one of the worst forest fire seasons the country has ever experienced; the Alexandroupolis and Evros wildfire, which broke out on 19 August razed more than 81,000 hectares alone, 170,000 hectares of land were destroyed across Greece in total.

The Megara Forest, some 60 kilometres northwest of Athens was also hard hit.

"In the last five years, large fires have occurred in the Megara Forest, destroying woodlands, forests, houses, businesses and livestock," Jasmine Georgiou, a forester with a masters in Waste Management, told Euronews.

The Greek AntiNero programme was created to tackle 'mega-fires' by cleaning and maintaining forests, planting slow-burning trees and creating different fire prevention zones.

Georgiou explained that clearing highly flammable scrub and forest debris is necessary to prevent fires from spreading out of control, especially during the summer season.

However public initiatives like these require significant investment to cover the costs of contractors, staff and essential equipment.

"The project's budget is beyond €400 million, this is the largest ever intervention undertaken to tackle this issue in our country, thanks to the resources secured by the Recovery and Resilience Fund," said Giouli Vourna, a project manager for the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund.

Measures financed by the RRF are established according to the priorities of each country. Greece has access to €35.9 billion, distributed in grants and loans which will also cover the modernisation of public infrastructure, including healthcare centres.

The Metaxa Cancer Hospital in Athens