The first meeting of the Policy Planning Committee of the new NSRF 2021-2027 was held on Friday, 6 March 2020, at the Ministry of Development and Investments, marking the start for the drafting of the new Partnership Agreement for the next Programming Period.

The Committee’s mission is to formulate views and proposals on the country’s development and strategic priorities and on the objectives of NSRF 2021-2027. The Committee is chaired by Deputy Minister of Development and Investments, Giannis Tsakiris, and its members include all of the Secretaries General of the Ministries, whose policy areas relate to the co-financed programmes, as well as the President of the Union of Greek Regions, Apostolos Tzitzikostas.

During the meeting, there was an in-depth discussion on the fulfilment of the Necessary Appropriate Terms, namely process for formulating the policy framework, such as strategy texts, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, etc., necessary to unlock Community funding for the next period.

It was also noted that the first draft of the NSRF text with the key policy choices is expected to be prepared in late March, and the draft new Operational Programmes in July this year. It is worth noting that all of the social and economic partners will be involved in the framework of the preparation of NSRF 2021-2027, in order to reflect the real needs of the Greek economy and society.

During the discussion, the importance of planning the strategic text of the NSRF for the new Programming Period was also highlighted. It was also stressed that, although major projects have been implemented with the Cohesion funds in all sectors – infrastructure, networks, environment, social and educational issues – from now on every possible effort must be made to maximise the development footprint of these resources for the country.

Finally, the key objectives of the new Programming Period’s Programmes were set out, with particular emphasis on bridging the country’s regional and intra-regional disparities, convergence with more developed regions of the EU, strengthening the social protection system, and improving the economy’s competitiveness by boosting liquidity and leveraging private funds.