Greece Report

Greece does not have any explicitly formulated WGA policies regarding the management of external crises and conflicts. However, certain evidence exists that either implicitly or explicitly indicates that the country is moving towards the formulation of WGA policies. The best example of such a WGA policy under development stems from Greece’s adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as defines by the UN in 2015. Indeed, in July 2018, the General Secretariat of the Government published a document titled Voluntary National Review on the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (VNR) (General Secretariat of the Government 2018: 15), presenting a detailed account of the progress made over the previous two years toward successfully accomplishing the SDGs at the national level. More precisely, the VNR aimed to: (1) present the institutional mechanism put in place in Greece that ensures the collective political ownership and commitment to accomplish successfully the SDGs and to foster a whole-of-government approach; (2) highlight the national policy and legal framework that incorporates the SDGs, focusing on the eight national priorities for the SDGs; (3) showcase the role played by key stakeholders in the implementation of the SDGs through the adoption of a whole-of-society approach; (4) provide some keys means of implementation that ensure the comprehensive and integrated achievement of the SDGs at all governance levels (national, regional, local); and (5) present the main steps to be taken with regard to the follow-up and review process of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.

The VNR builds on Greece’s National Strategy for Sustainable Development (NSSD) of 2002 (Ministry for the Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works 2002), which was developed following the adoption of the European Strategy for Sustainable Development in 2001, and which provided the basis for the development of Greece’s National Strategy for Sustainable and Just Development 2030 (NSSJD) (Ministry of Economy and Development 2019), drawing from the SDGs of 2015. Unlike the NSSD, the NSSJD presented a truly strategic approach in which sustainable development issues are anchored at the highest political level. Thus, through the VNR, Greece is pursuing policy coherence both horizontally across policy sectors (e.g. economic, industrial, agricultural, tourism-related and cultural) and vertically at all levels of governance (national, regional and local).

Highlighting the premise that the successful implementation of the SDGs goes beyond the responsibilities of the central government, the VNR notes that Greece has adopted a “whole-of-society approach” that pays particular attention to ensuring strong stakeholder engagement at all stages (stock-taking, policy design and implementation) as well as to raising awareness at all levels. Most importantly, however, the VNR indicates that the key for successfully implementing the SDGs at the national level will be setting up a robust, long-term institutional mechanism that follows a WGA. This explicit reference to a WGA is the first – and, to date, the only – clear evidence of a WGA concept related to a specific policy in Greece.

Although they do not include an explicit reference to the WGA concept per se, elements of a WGA can also be detected in two other policies. The first relates to Greece’s provision of development and humanitarian aid to developing countries as defined by Law 2731/1999 (Government Gazette 1999). This law established the Directorate General of International Development Cooperation (Hellenic Aid) in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the competent national authority. While shaping and coordinating Greek development policy, the DG is responsible for (Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2018): (1) coordinating all relevant allocations out of the development budget; (2) submitting proposals on the national development strategy to the Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Organisation and Coordination of International Economic Relations; (3) coordinating, implementing, promoting and monitoring humanitarian and development projects and activities to the benefit of developing countries; (4) representing the country in matters of international development at the relevant international fora and organisations (e.g. the EU, the OECD-DAC and the UN); (5) evaluating the humanitarian/development project proposals submitted thereto by NGOs and other institutions, and monitoring their implementation; (6) collaborating closely with competent authorities of the public and private sector, aiming at the effective administration of national development funds, the complementarity of projects and activities, and the coherence of national policies; (7) compiling statistical data on bilateral and multilateral official development assistance and preparing annual reports for Greece’s parliament and the OECD-DAC; (8) proposing development policies in the context of the New European Consensus on Development; and (9) focusing on important development frameworks and submitting the relevant findings and recommendations to the minister for foreign affairs. To successfully perform this wide array of tasks, Hellenic Aid must continuously and closely interact and coordinate with many different national and international actors, which in turn results in what can be viewed as an indirect adherence to the WGA concept.

The second policy relates to the recently reinforced attempts to strengthen Greece’s defence industry by participating in the EU’s Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). At the European level, the WGA in this area was explicitly championed by the EU Global Strategy of 2016, which has been strongly supported by Greece. According to the General Directorate of National Defence Policy and International Relations (GDNDPIR) of the Greek Ministry of National Defence (MoD), Greece has welcomed PESCO as a unique opportunity to increase the capabilities of its security forces through the country’s participation in multilateral projects related to technology, research and development. However, the clearest indication that Greece is moving towards adopting a WGA in this policy area is the emphasis that the MoD has placed on the establishment of a national framework for the “compulsory” participation of small and medium-sized enterprises in Greece’s defence industry in the PESCO projects in which Greece is involved (Ministry of Defence 2018). At present, together with France, Germany and Italy, Greece is among the EU member states most actively participating in such projects. While it is leading five PECSO projects, it is participating in an additional nine projects. As Greece moves towards adopting a WGA, the MoD aims to engage with all enterprises in the Greek defence industry – both public and private – to create economies of scale, halt the brain drain of Greek scientists, and strengthen the capacity-building of the Greek security forces.