The European Commission has endorsed Greece’s Social Climate Plan, a €4.77 billion package running from 2026 to 2032 to support vulnerable households, transport users and micro-enterprises during the clean transition.
The plan is the fifth, and the largest so far, approved under the EU’s Social Climate Fund, which uses revenue from emissions allowances to fund measures linked to cleaner energy and transport, the Commission announced on Thursday.
It will be financed by €3.57 billion from the EU and €1.2 billion from national funds.
The Commission said it found the plan “adequately addresses” the social impacts of expanding the EU’s emissions trading system to buildings and road transport under ETS2 — a new carbon market that places a price on emissions from fuels used in those sectors.
Up to 460,000 vulnerable households are set to receive support including up to 62,000 home renovations and the installation of 200,000 heat pumps and solar water heating systems.
Greece will also add 2,800 energy-efficient social housing units.
A further €226 million will be allocated to renovating public student residences, improving access to higher education for 5,930 vulnerable students.
A temporary heating allowance is expected to support up to 800,000 vulnerable households each year with heating costs after ETS2 begins.
Public transport and accessible mobility
Around 300,000 vulnerable transport users are expected to benefit from measures including more than 200 new electric buses in urban areas, 22 additional Athens metro trains, and new on-demand transport services in remote areas, the Commission said.
The plan also includes charging infrastructure and a social leasing scheme intended to help 15,000 car-dependent vulnerable households access electric vehicles at an affordable monthly rate.
Accessibility measures include investment in more than 12,000 mobility devices such as electric wheelchairs and scooters, a dedicated school transport service for students with disabilities, and accessibility upgrades to 33 railway stations and 85 metro stations.
The plan also sets out €820 million to support 28,000 vulnerable micro-enterprises through measures including energy efficiency upgrades to buildings and subsidies to cut energy and transport costs.
Greece will be able to request its first payment once implementation has started and milestones have been met.
