PM launches €23 billion National Development Program for 2026-2030
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has officially launched Greece’s new €23 billion National Development Program (NDP), which will run from 2026 to 2030. Funded entirely through national resources, the five-year program will serve as the country’s central development instrument, complementing European Union funding as the Recovery and Resilience Facility enters its final phase. Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis described the NDP as evidence of the Greek economy’s progress, noting that Greece is growing faster than the European average, while investments increased by 12.1% in the first quarter of the year and unemployment has fallen close to 8%.
Greece set to approve €3 billion ‘Achilles’ Shield’ defense program
Greece’s highest national security body is expected on Thursday to approve a €3 billion procurement package of Israeli-made defense systems as part of the planned “Achilles’ Shield” air and missile defense umbrella.
Themistocleous: Health Ministry on operational readiness for heatwave
Deputy Health Minister Marios Themistocleous said the National Emergency Response Center and the National Health System are on full alert in anticipation of the heat wave. As he stated in an interview with “MEGA” tv the Ministry of Health has issued a relevant circular. He also urged citizens, particularly those in vulnerable groups, to follow protective measures and assured them that, so far, there has been no increased strain on healthcare facilities.
Eurostat: Greece records the largest reduction in the debt-to-GDP ratio in 1Q2026
Official Eurostat data for the first quarter of 2026 indicate a significant decline in Greece’s public debt, both as a percentage of GDP and in nominal terms. According to the European statistical office, Greece’s debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 143.5%, representing a year-on-year decrease of 9.4 percentage points compared with the first quarter of 2025. This was the largest reduction among the 27 member states of the European Union over the period.
ATHEX: Banks take index back to 2,500 points
The Greek bourse benchmark has returned to 2,500 points, after banks launched an upward move on Tuesday that carried along the entire market. Traders are eager to position themselves ahead of the second-quarter results of lenders at the end of this month, expecting some very positive news for their stock prices. The fact that the main index has moved back up to the 2,500-point level is seen as a crucial step toward averting a medium-term slide for Athinon Avenue, after last week’s losses.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1310227/athex-banks-take-index-back-to-2500-points
KATHIMERINI: The “perfect storm” for the energy market
TA NEA: 72 installments or out-of-court settlement: Which one is more favorable
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Coup d’ etat by Health Minister Georgiadis
RIZOSPASTIS: Seamen will not sacrifice their lives for the profits of shipowners and the wars of the imperialists
KONTRA NEWS: Mitsotakis is betting on an elections marathon
DIMOKRATIA: Prosecutions by the European Public Prosecutor ahead: Zero Hour for the scandal involving the “small houses” for recycling
NAFTEMPORIKI: Extroversion is the only way for the food and drinks field
DRIVING THE DAY
LAST DRAMA OF THE SEASON: Ambassadors will meet today with an objective: a deal to impose restrictions on the shipping of Russian gas. But what are their chances of success before the summer break? No one knows.
Paging Kyriakos: Ambassadors who spoke to Playbook were despondent. “Very difficult to predict,” sighed one diplomat. Others simply replied: “Let’s see.” A third offered perhaps the most honest assessment of all: “Impossible to say. Better call Athens.”
All eyes on Greece: The country’s shipping industry wants provisions restricting the transport of Russian gas to third countries scrapped, arguing European companies would simply lose business to non-EU competitors. That’s why Athens remains the last holdout.
Problem won’t go away … Another delay on the 21st Russian sanctions package is the most-feared scenario. “If the issues haven’t been resolved now, when will they?” one EU diplomat wondered. “You can postpone again, but you’ll just come back to the same problems.”
… and the clock is ticking: Oil markets are moving, geopolitical tensions are mounting, and the pressure to finally wrap up the package — which is linked to the bloc’s price cap on Russian crude — is growing. Wasn’t the imposition of sanctions supposed to have become easier in the post-Orbán era?
Getting 27 capitals to agree will only get harder. “There’s no more low-hanging fruit after 20 packages,” one EU diplomat told my colleague Koen Verhelst. Indeed, Monday’s meeting of the diplomats who prepare the work for EU ambassadors (known as Anticis) didn’t solve the standoff (Playbook unpacked the issue earlier this week).
Previously, on sanctions … the top diplomats burned through three days of negotiations last week without reaching agreement on what is still considered a hefty package. There are about 250 new listings, more banks, more shadow-fleet vessels and fresh measures targeting Russia’s war machine.
A familiar script: Coreper II — the meeting of EU ambassadors — kicks off at 10 a.m. The day is expected to unfold much like last week, according to three EU diplomats with knowledge of the plans. That means an initial discussion with sanctions as the first agenda item, followed by a break covering other topics, before ambassadors return later in the day.
Austria unresolved: Vienna dropped its veto to the sanctions last week, despite EU members rejecting Austria’s request to compensate Raiffeisen Bank for the €2.1 billion in assets seized by Russia, two EU diplomats familiar with the discussions told my colleague Gregorio Sorgi. In classic Brussels fashion, capitals promised to come back to it later.
HOT POTATO 2 — ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS: Russia sanctions aren’t the only politically charged file on ambassadors’ desks today. Hidden behind the bland-sounding “Follow-up on FAC” agenda item: possible trade restrictions on products from illegal Israeli settlements.
From ministers to ambassadors: One diplomat described last week’s ministers’ discussion as “quite short” and “inconclusive,” prompting top diplomat Kaja Kallas to send the file back to Coreper to figure out what capitals could actually live with before it returns to ministers.
Cancel your vacation: Last week, Kallas floated the idea of an extraordinary meeting of foreign affairs ministers on the issue, and one EU official told Playbook the option to have it even in the heat of summer remains … open.
BIG AND BREAKING
GENERIC DRUG TARIFFS: U.S. President Donald Trump has announced a plan to impose a 100 percent tariff on generic drugs starting in August 2028, as part of a bid to push pharmaceutical production back to the U.S. If implemented, the tariff would then jump to 200 percent in 2029, Trump said in an overnight social media post.
THE COST OF WAR: U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has told a Senate committee the military conflict against Iran has cost about $37.5 billion over the past five months. Hegseth declined to say when the war might end.
NO BIENNALE BAILOUT: The Commission’s cultural agency is pulling a €2 million grant from the Venice Biennale because Russia will take part in the 2026 edition. “Cultural events funded by European taxpayers’ money should safeguard democratic values [that] are not respected in today’s Russia,” Commission spokesperson Guillaume Mercier told Mari Eccles.
AI GOES TO EUCO: António Costa wants leaders to finally have the AI conversation. The Council president’s office confirmed to POLITICO’s Pieter Haeck that a dedicated debate is penciled in for one of the EU’s remaining summits this year — October, November or December.
KYIV’S MESSAGE TO THE IOC: Lifting the ban on Russian athletes would only help Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukraine warns the International Olympic Committee.
MACRON TO LOSE ANOTHER MINISTER: French Ecological Transition Minister Monique Barbut plans to resign after parliament approved contentious farming legislation that laid bare fresh cracks in the president’s coalition. Victor Goury-Laffont and Élisa Bertholomey have the inside story.
SOCIAL REPORT CARDS ARE IN
MARKING COUNTRIES’ SOCIAL HOMEWORK: Governments will find out today how delivery of the Commission’s goals to increase employment, sharply boost adult participation in training and reduce poverty remains patchy, Zoya Sheftalovich reports.
So long: The College of Commissioners meets for the last time before the summer, and the top only item on the agenda is an assessment, to be unveiled by Executive Vice President Roxana Mînzatu, of how countries are delivering on what’s known as the European Pillar of Social Rights.
What is it? The Pillar, agreed in 2017, sets out 20 principles covering access to jobs and skills, fair working conditions and social protection. A 2021 action plan translated those principles into 75 initiatives and set three headline targets for 2030.
Must do better: Brussels has now presented all 75 initiatives. But progress is uneven, according to a Commission official. The EU employment rate reached 76.3 percent in early 2026, putting the bloc within striking distance of its 78 percent target. But progress on skills is far weaker, with just 39.5 percent of adults taking part in learning each year, against a 60 percent goal. Only 60 percent of Europeans have basic digital skills. The target is 80 percent.
What comes next: The Commission will identify where Europe is falling behind and set priorities for the next phase, with greater emphasis on measurable results and the social agenda beyond 2030. It comes alongside work on a possible Quality Jobs Act, which could cover training, working conditions and the growing use of algorithmic management systems. Mînzatu has also previously floated an EU tool to help people who are willing and able to work but remain outside the labor market.
Reality check: The bigger question is how much Brussels can achieve without stronger national implementation. The Commission argues Europe must manage rapid labor-market change, including the impact of AI, while maintaining social protection — but much of the responsibility still rests with member countries.
SECURITY COLLEGE RETURNS: Social rights isn’t the only topic for today’s College meeting. Commissioners will also switch into Security College format to discuss Ukraine and the EU’s eastern border, a Commission spokesperson told Playbook.
20-SECOND PLAYBOOK PRIMER
The European Parliament hasn’t quite finished its work before the summer break and this week is a “pink week” for MEPs. What does that mean? The Parliament’s calendar is color-coded: red weeks are plenary sessions (when all MEPs meet in Strasbourg or Brussels to debate, amend, and vote on legislation); pink weeks are when MEPs meet in their specific committees to discuss draft legislation and prepare reports; blue weeks are when the political groups meet up for discussions; and green weeks are for work outside the Parliament, including going back to their constituency or on a work trip.
THE RIGHT FIT FOR CYPRUS?
FITTO HITS THE CYPRUS FILE: Less than a week after being named the European Commission’s Special Representative for Cyprus, Executive Vice President Raffaele Fitto is wearing his new hat. Today he’ll meet María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar, the U.N. Secretary-General’s personal envoy to the country.
Mission briefing: The goal is — no pressure! — to start laying the groundwork for the reunification of the island, split for more than 50 years between the Republic of Cyprus in the south and the Turkish-controlled north. Fitto is helping prepare the conditions for negotiations on a “comprehensive and lasting solution,” the Commission’s Guillaume Mercier told Playbook.
Why now? Because someone has to try. Brussels hopes Fitto’s appointment can breathe new life into reunification talks that have gone nowhere for years. Optimism hasn’t entirely disappeared: Cyprus EU affairs minister Marilena Raouna said last week she still “believes in reunification.”
The EU remains “firmly committed” to that goal within the U.N.-led framework, Mercier said, meaning Fitto and Holguín will need to work hand in hand.
“It’s still soon to say if Fitto is the right fit,” MEP and influencer Fidias Panayiotou — arguably the best-known Cypriot in Brussels — told Playbook. One thing he does like: the job has gone to one of the Commission’s executive vice presidents, signaling the bloc is taking the issue seriously.
Watched closely: While calling the new appointment “an important opportunity” and welcoming “every sincere effort” to restart negotiations, fellow Cypriot MEP Loucas Fourlas warned Fitto’s job “cannot be limited to seeking arrangements that primarily accommodate Ankara’s demands in exchange for progress in EU-[Turkey] relations.”
DASHBOARD
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6 MORE THINGS GETTING US TALKING
MERGER WEDNESDAY: Three major merger rulings land today — with implications for Hollywood, Big Oil and the video-game industry. More on Morning Fair Play (for subscribers).
OH, CAP! Europe’s farm subsidies are making fruit and vegetables more expensive, according to a U.N. report, undermining efforts to make healthy food more affordable.
BREAKFAST AT TURNBERRY’S: The EU’s top trade official Ditte Juul Jørgensen will debrief the bloc’s 27 envoys on EU-U.S. trade relations over breakfast this morning, with Washington’s temporary tariffs expiring in just a couple of days. More on the meeting on Morning Trade (for subscribers).
SHOW YOUR BOOKS: A federal judge has ruled that U.S. President Donald Trump has to turn over detailed financial information in connection with his defamation lawsuit against the BBC.
NEW PARTY TO TAKE ON ERDOĞAN: Turkey’s deposed opposition leader Özgür Özel has said he’s establishing a new political party to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the FT reports.
DG CONNECT’S GROWTH: The Commission’s tech department has never been bigger. It has reached a record staffing level as it gears up to enforce the bloc’s ever-growing digital rulebook. More on Morning Tech (for subscribers).