Greece is one of 20 countries which received approval of the Medium Term Plan and one of the 8 countries whose budget plans (Draft Budgetary Plans) were evaluated positively both in terms of the recommendations of the European Semester and in the context of meeting the expenditure ceilings.

According to the announcement of the European Commission of November 26, 2024:

The Commission presented the first autumn package of the European Semester since the ambitious and comprehensive reform of the new EU economic governance framework came into force in April 2024.

Evaluation of medium-term plans:

The Commission completed its evaluation of 21 of the 22 projects submitted.

According to the Commission’s assessments, 20 of the 21 plans meet the requirements of the new framework and set a credible fiscal path to ensure that the debt level of the respective Member States is put on a sustainable downward path or kept at prudent levels. This concerns the following Member States: Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Finland. For the Member States in question, the Commission recommends that the Council approve the path of net expenditure included in the plans in question. In the case of the Netherlands, the Commission has proposed to the Council to establish a path of net expenditure in line with the technical information forwarded by the Commission in June. The Commission is still assessing Hungary’s medium-term plan.

For five of the 20 medium-term plans positively assessed by the Commission, the path of net expenditure is based on the extension of the adjustment period from four to seven years. The extension is supported by a set of reform and investment commitments included in the plans. In all five cases, the Commission assessed that the measures included in the plans met the criteria justifying an extension. This concerns the medium-term plans of France, Spain, Italy, Romania and Finland.

Evaluation of the draft fiscal programs for 2025:

The Commission also assessed the 2025 draft fiscal plans (DSPs) submitted by 17 euro area Member States and considered whether they constitute appropriate first steps for the implementation of the respective medium-term plans.

When assessing the MSPs, the Commission focuses on the increase in net expenditure over the period 2024-2025 and examines whether net expenditure is within the ceilings set out in the Member States’ medium-term plans, provided that these plans are available and deemed to comply with the new framework.

Eight Member States of the euro area are considered to be in line with the fiscal recommendations, while seven not alignedi completely, one does not align and one may not align:

Greece, Cyprus, Latvia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Italy, Croatia and France are estimated to be in line with the recommendations, as their net spending is projected to be within the ceilings.

Estonia, Germany, Finland and Ireland are estimated not to be fully aligned with the recommendations, as their annual net costs (Finland, Ireland) and/or cumulative net costs (Estonia, Germany, Ireland) are projected to exceed respective upper limits.

Luxembourg, Malta and Portugal are assessed as not fully aligned with the recommendation: although their net spending is projected to be within the ceilings, they will not have phased out emergency energy support measures by winter 2024-2025, as recommended the Council.

The Netherlands is assessed as not being in line with the recommendation as net expenditure is projected above the ceilings.

Lithuania is assessed as potentially out of line with the recommendation, given that net expenditure is projected to exceed the rates the Commission considers an appropriate first step in implementing the new economic governance framework.