Greek Industry Says €300M Energy Aid Falls Short

Greek manufacture leaders are pushing backmost against the government’s latest €300 cardinal support package, warning that its insufficient and doesn’t tackle the long-standing structural problems that person plagued the sector.

The measures, which were unveiled connected Monday April 6, aft six months of negotiations with the European Commission, are aimed, according to the government, astatine easing the load of precocious energy prices. But employers and manufacture associations telephone the bundle announced a temporary fix, which doesn’t code Greece’s lagging concern competitiveness.

“The occupation is not solved”

“The occupation is that, arsenic we each know, Greece pays higher vigor costs for manufacture than galore countries successful the EU,” said Spyros Theodoropoulos, president of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV), the country’s starring concern group.

“If I had to springiness an reply to the question whether the measures announced solve the problem, I would accidental that they surely bash not,” helium underlined. “They are steps successful the close direction, but their value and interaction will disagree from manufacture to industry.” The comments bespeak broader concerns that Greece’s concern assemblage remains burdened by persistently precocious energy prices compared with European peers.

Limited scope of support

Antonios Kontoleon, president of the Hellenic Union of Industrial Consumers of Energy Consumers (EVIKEN), criticized the absorption of the measures.

“We spot that the measures chiefly strengthen an existing mechanics — c outgo compensation — which has been successful spot since 2013 and does not screen each energy-intensive industries,” helium said.

He added that the effectiveness of the strategy depends connected aboriginal allocations from emissions revenues, noting that lone a fraction of available funds has been distributed successful caller years.

On different cardinal measure, namely the simplification successful nationalist work work charges, Kontoleon said it falls abbreviated for astir businesses.

“Clearly, the simplification is not sufficient to offset rising vigor costs for industries that are not subsidized by the compensation mechanism, which marque up the majority,” helium said.

Manufacturing still lags successful Europe

The statement comes arsenic Greece’s manufacturing sector, while growing, continues to trail astir of the European Union.

Data presented by manufacture representatives amusement Greece ranked 4th from the bottommost among the EU’s 27 subordinate states successful some 2019 and 2024 successful terms of manufacturing’s publication to GDP.

The sector’s gross value added roseate to 9.1% of GDP successful 2024 from 7.8% successful 2019. Still, Greece outperforms lone Malta, Cyprus and Luxembourg.

Even with caller gains, manufacturing’s stock of the system has lone conscionable returned to levels past seen astir 2005.

Export show besides remains weak comparative to peers. Countries of akin size, such arsenic Portugal, Sweden and Denmark, export astir twice arsenic overmuch arsenic a stock of GDP, while Austria and Bulgaria export astir three times arsenic much.

Greece pays much for power

Energy costs stay a cardinal constraint.

According to Eurostat information cited successful a caller economical bulletin, Greek manufacture paid importantly higher energy prices than the EU mean successful the archetypal fractional of 2025.

For non-household consumers with yearly depletion betwixt 20,000 and 70,000 megawatt-hours, prices stood astatine €0.1614 per kilowatt-hour successful Greece, compared with €0.1382 successful the EU.

For higher depletion levels, betwixt 70,000 and 150,000 megawatt-hours, prices were €0.1533 per kilowatt-hour successful Greece versus €0.1240 crossed the bloc.

Calls for semipermanent reforms

Industry groups accidental the existent measures bash not bespeak the standard of the load already borne by businesses and are calling for a broader strategy.

Loukia Saranti, president of the Federation of Industries of Greece (SVE), said longer-term enactment is needed.

“The measures are successful the close absorption and are intelligibly preferable to nary intervention,” she said. “However, they bash not bespeak the magnitude of the load already borne by industry, nor bash they solve the long-standing problems.”

“In today’s vigor and geopolitical environment, the state urgently needs a strategy that accelerates structural interventions and restores the competitiveness of our production,” she added.