"Europe 2020" is the EU’s growth strategy for a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy. These three mutually reinforcing priorities will help the EU and its member states deliver high levels of employment, productivity and social cohesion.

Concretely, the Union has set five ambitious objectives – on employment, innovation, education, social inclusion and climate/energy – to be reached by 2020. Each Member State has adopted its own national targets in each of these areas. Concrete actions at EU and national levels underpin this strategy.

The EU’s five targets for 2020 enshrined in the Europe 2020 strategy are the following:

1. Employment

• 75% employment rate for the population aged 20 to 64.

2. Research and Development

• 3% of the EU GDP must be invested in Research and Development.

3. Climate change and energy sustainability

• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% (or even 30%, if conditions permit) compared to 1990 levels;
• Increasing the share of renewables in final energy consumption to 20%;
• 20% increase in energy efficiency.

4. Education

• Reducing school drop-out rates to less than 10%;
• Increasing the share of the population aged 30-34 having completed higher education to at least 40%.

5. Combating poverty and social exclusion

• Lifting at least 20 million people out of poverty or social exclusion or out of the risk of poverty or social exclusion.

The national targets for Greece with respect to the "Europe 2020" Strategy are:

* This target stemmed from the proposal of the Greek side in the context of the new revised NRP. The achievement of this target is based on specific main assumptions and hypotheses that pertain to both the ESIF 2014–2020 resources to be spent in 2020 compared to the spending for the baseline year, as well as the significant increase of private and public spending in R&T for 2020. Moreover, it should be noted that this target concerns the entire national effort (as is also the case with the other objectives of the table). Specifically, the ESIF resources will contribute to achieving the target, making up approximately 15% of the overall R&T for 2020.

Source: ELSTAT, Eurostat, National Inventory Report 2014-Greece, 2nd Energy Efficiency Action Plan, Progress Report on the National Renewable Energy Action Plan.

Related files

• Communication from the Commission EUROPE 2020. A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (PDF - 150.7 Kb)