Answers citing the official European and national data to PASOK's claims regarding the implementation course of the National Plan “Greece 2.0”, which is financed by the Recovery Fund, were given by the Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance, Nikos Papathanasis, during the discussion of a relevant topical interpellation submitted by the main opposition in Parliament, while at the same time referring to the measurable result produced by the government's developmental economic policy for society.
The main points of Nikos Papathanasis's opening and secondary remarks follow:
“Today's discussion reveals a substantial contradiction: PASOK comes to Parliament to describe a "failure" that the facts themselves have already disproved. 256 milestones have already been fulfilled and with the new revision the resources the country will receive amount to 30.5 billion euros, that is 85% of the total budget of the program. In the grants component, 15.5 billion euros have already been channeled into the economy within five years. While the loan component, totaling 17.7 billion euros, will support investments of 46 billion euros.
100% of the resources of the loan component have been absorbed and contracted before the deadline was completed. You cannot accuse the government of not achieving a target, since the target has already been achieved. This is not a picture of inertia. It is a picture of high administrative maturity and systematic implementation.
The claim that small and medium-sized enterprises were excluded is disproved by the data themselves. Of the 859 loan agreements, 519, that is 60.4%, concern small and medium-sized enterprises. Six billion euros of investment plans concern SMEs and three billion very small and small enterprises. A total of 15,700 SMEs made use of the program (loan component and InvestEU) to carry out investments, upgrade their productive equipment, digitize their operations and strengthen their extroversion. In addition, 90,000 small and medium-sized enterprises were subsidized for digital tools and approximately 1,000 for energy-efficient equipment. Therefore, the picture of “resources for the few” does not withstand scrutiny of the numbers.
The revision of the program is not an abandonment of projects. Our choice is clear: we revise so that resources are not lost, we include projects that respond to the real needs of society and we utilize every available euro for the benefit of citizens.
I ask PASOK: Which of the new projects we included do you consider should not have been included? Should the restoration of Thessaly's road and railway network after Daniel and Elias not proceed? Should we not include the flood protection projects in Evros and Rhodope? Should the 26,800 afternoon surgeries not be carried out? Should we not increase the electric buses from 250 to 425? Should we not construct the 800 smart crossings outside schools? Should we not strengthen the pre-seismic inspection of public buildings? Should we not expand the "Antinero" program, which cleared hundreds of thousands of stremmas of forests? Should we not include "My Home II" for the first home of thousands of families?
One simple, clear and relentless question: Does the Recovery Fund concern the few or does it concern the many? Do the 39,194 interactive boards being installed in schools across the country concern the few? Does the Digital Tutoring platform, which opens knowledge free of charge to every student, every family, every corner of Greece, concern the few? Does the increase in electric buses in Athens and Thessaloniki from 250 to 425 concern the few?
Or does it concern the worker waiting at the bus stop, the elderly person who wants cleaner and safer transport, the young person asking for a modern city? Does the expansion of "Prolamvano" with more beneficiaries and new examinations concern the few? Does an examination that detects cancer early concern the few? Does a diagnosis that can save a life concern the few? Does the national health line 1566 concern the few? The mobile units with telemedicine? The more than 26,000 afternoon surgeries? The 150,000 disability cards? The 800 smart crossings outside schools? The 300,000 Gigabit vouchers for homes? "My Home II" for thousands of young people and families?
If all these concern the few, then who, indeed, are the many? The many are the students. The many are the patients. The many are the workers. The many are the young people looking for a home. The many are people with disabilities. The many are the residents of the islands and remote areas. The many are every citizen who asks for a state that is fairer, faster, more humane. That is why I call on you to answer without evasions: Which of these projects would you remove? Which examination would you not carry out? Which surgery would you not fund? Which bus would you not buy? Which school would you leave without modern tools?
Politics is not judged by how loudly you denounce. It is judged by how much you change citizens' lives for the better. And this is the truth you cannot overturn: The Recovery Fund does not concern the few. It concerns all Greek women and all Greek men. It concerns the whole of Greece”