The programme has been approved by the European Commission Competitiveness 2021/27, with a public expenditure of €3.9 billion. euros, of which 3.1 billion euro comes from Community resources from the ERDF and ESF+ Funds. This is the first program of the NSRF 2021/27 to be approved by the European Commission.

The Competitiveness 2021/27 programme is an integrated intervention that will support the productive, competitive and outward-looking sectors of the economy in their transition to a growth model driven by the knowledge economy, largely reflecting the country's growth priorities and in line with the Commission's new priorities.

It is the tool for the implementation of the National Smart Specialization Strategy (ESEE) that connects research and innovation with entrepreneurship and the strengthening of national and regional advantages. It is also in line with the policies of the European Union for the digital and green transformation of the Greek economy, promoting interventions and investments that contribute to the goals set at European level.

In the long term, the aim of the program is to increase the size of Greek businesses and to strengthen their extrovert orientation so that they become a key lever for the development of the Greek economy. In this context, its strategy is complementary to the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RRF) , which finances reforms and long-term investments for the productivity and resilience of the economy.

The Competitiveness 2021/27 strategy is organised around four main investment axes within the respective Funds:

• Research and Innovation Support (ERDF)
• Strengthening Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness (ERDF)
• Improving Access to Finance for Enterprises (ERDF)
• Human Capital Development in the context of Development Transformation (ECB+)

Indicative Actions of the Competitiveness Programme 2021/27

• Supporting productive investments with a focus on innovation, technological adaptation, digital transformation and shift to environmentally friendly processes and products
• Development of production of internationally tradable products and services
• Strengthening new / start-up entrepreneurship of high added value
• Supporting the development/adoption of innovations
• Services supporting entrepreneurship and creating a favourable business environment
• Upgrading and qualitative modernization of the tourist product
• Encouraging clusters and/or collaborations of SMEs with each other and/or with larger enterprises
• Development / Upgrading of entrepreneurship support structures / mechanisms
• Environmental infrastructure / green development

The programme's flagship actions include:

• Research – Create – Innovate
• Green Fund for Sustainable Development
• Equifund