“Common ground in the European Council is the need to support the economic and geopolitical dynamics of our continent”the government spokesman pointed out, Pavlos Marinakisrepeating the statements made by the Prime Minister from Brussels, Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

“Greece has been a protagonist in shaping a more active EU defense policy. The prime minister, as part of the discussion on the developments in the Middle East, will inform, as he said, his counterparts about his visit to Lebanon and the need to protect the various religious minorities, making special reference to the Greek Orthodox of Lebanon, but primarily of Syria, who fall under under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Antioch. Most importantly, Mr. Mitsotakis, yes ensure the territorial integrity of the countryher Syria that is, and the new government should be an inclusive government first and foremost, which will support and safeguard the rights of religious minorities and obviously Europe must come to this debate with a single point of view and Greece will have a decisive role in to shape the European approach on the issues concerning Syria”, he added, in briefing political editors.

Mr. Marinakis then reported that the procedures for the launch of two very important housing programs to be implemented by the Recovery and Resilience Fund. As he said, the MOU for the program was signed by the co-competent ministersMy House II”which is expected to start on the first 15th of January. Also, the MOU was signed for the implementation of the program “Upgrading my Home”, which aims to grant housing loans for energy interventions in primary or non-main residences, of natural persons, without income and age criteria with a full interest rate subsidy.

According to the government spokesman, “these two programs are yet another action by the Government on the way to facilitating citizens, both to acquire their own home with low-interest loans, which contributes drastically to the relief of housing, and to upgrade their home energy-wise, thus contributing reducing their cost of living and having a smaller energy footprint”.

He then emphasized that “based on the official figures of the European Commission for 2022 – when the latest data are available – the VAT gap fell to 13.7%, from 17.5% in 2021. It decreased, that is, by 21.7% within one year.

It is worth noting that 2017, the year of its establishment Independent Public Revenue Authoritythe blank VAT in our country it was at 29.1%, with the result that within 5 years the VAT gap has decreased by 53%. The use of artificial intelligence, the expansion of digitization throughout the audit process, the centralization of services and a more targeted approach to audits have raised the level and speed, reducing undeclared taxable material.

He further added that “as part of the audit carried out on 26 large companies, fines were announced by DIMEA to eight multinational companies totaling 5.5 million. euro” and emphasized that “Pickups and profit margin violations at the expense of consumers will not be tolerated, especially as we continue to take initiatives in the supply chain to reduce the impact of the inflationary crisis on citizens.”

At the same time, Mr. Marinakis made reference to the fact that today the applications for the new employment program of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and DYPA for the promotion of entrepreneurship, with the creation of new small and medium enterprises by 5,880 unemployed people, aged 30 – 59 years, with an emphasis on unemployed women. “The Government’s goal is to continuously create ways to strengthen employability and to continue to reduce unemployment,” he stressed.

He also said that “in collaboration with the Minister of Health Adonis Georgiadis and the Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance Nikos Papathanasis, the grant of the Children’s Health Institute for the implementation of preventive measures is included in the Recovery and Resilience Fund perinatal screening for Spinal Muscular Atrophy and Severe Combined Immunodeficiencywith a total budget of 2 million euros”. He pointed out how “the goal of the National Program for the Prevention of Spinal Muscular Atrophy, which is the third most common serious genetic disease in Greece, is to offer prospective parents the freedom of reproductive options and the possibility, if they wish, to prepare for early treatment of the disease immediately after birth, benefiting from the proven maximum performance of existing treatments during the pre-symptomatic period.’

He repeated that “the culture of preventive medicine is now part of our daily life, already with the programs of preventive examinations for breast cancer, colon cancer, etc. thousands of our fellow citizens have the possibility to detect any symptoms in time and have increased chances of healing”.

He then made a detailed reference to the “urgent transitional provision submitted to Parliament by the Ministry of Environment and Energy with the aim of avoiding the creation of stalemates and impasses and until the publication of the decision of the Council of State, by which:

  • Issuance of pre-approvals and new building permits is suspended, which make use of: 1) the system of the provisions of the New Building Regulation, which establish incentives to increase the building conditions and 2) the non-counting of internal externals, i.e. balconies and the main use space of 35 sq.m. on the roof of the building, as well as simulating the swimming pool with a planted surface.
  • At the same time, in order to avoid a different treatment of the issues related to studies that include the application of incentives by the urban planning councils, their meetings on these issues are suspended, until the relevant decision is published, in order for the citizens’ requests to be considered based on the principle of equality.
  • The building permits that have been issued using the incentives of the NOK are not revoked by the Administration until the publication of the decision of the Council of State. Any revocations of building permits by the Administration, due to the use of NOK incentives that took place from 11.12.2024 are automatically revoked”.

He added that it was also filed “amendment, which concerns the subsidization of debts of the Municipal Water Supply and Sewerage Companies to electricity providers” and stated that the total amount of the subsidy is 200 million. euro.

The assignment to Greece unanimously by the presidency of the Forum of Ancient Civilizationsfor 2025, was the next topic of the update. “The Forum’s 1st Ministerial Conference was organized in Athens, in 2017. In the context of its upcoming Presidency, Greece aims to take initiatives that will enhance the visibility of the Forum, the joint fight against the illegal trafficking of cultural goods, the exchange of know-how in matters of conservation, restoration and promotion of the cultural stock of the member states and international cultural actions with tangible results in the rescue and promotion of the cultural heritage of the member states”, said Mr. Marinakis.

Concluding, he pointed out that the prime minister at his invitation Finnish Prime Minister Petri Orpo will switch to Finlandwhere on December 21 and 22 an Informal North-South Summit will be held where the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Italy and Sweden will also participate as well as the High Representative of the European Union for foreign policy Kaya Kalas. On Monday, December 23, the Council of Ministers will meet under the Prime Minister at Megaros Maximos.