Greece has until the end of October to agree with the European Commission on which projects and reforms under its Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) should be cut and replaced, or risk losing available funds, Kathimerini understands.
EU sources said projects in health, energy, social housing and railways are under review for potential removal from the RRF portfolio. Renovation works at 18 hospitals are not expected to be completed by the August 2026 deadline, while carbon capture and storage projects in the energy sector need further assessment. Social housing initiatives and planned railway reforms are also under scrutiny.
Officials clarified that exclusion from the RRF would not mean the projects will be abandoned, since they could be financed through other EU funds, primarily the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), known in Greece as ESPA. However, if they remain in the RRF and fail to meet deadlines, they would lose that option, along with resources that could support faster-absorbing projects.
“There is no room for a ‘wait-and-see’ approach,” one EU source said, stressing that all investments and reforms must be completed by August 2026, with final disbursements made by December 2026. No extensions will be granted.
A European Commission delegation led by Declan Costello, deputy head of the Commission’s economic and financial affairs directorate, and Celine Gauer, head of the RRF taskforce, visited Athens in recent days to discuss the scope of possible revisions with Greek authorities.
The message delivered, according to people familiar with the talks, was clear: large-scale infrastructure projects that cannot realistically be finished on time should not remain in the plan.