Greece

Central government authorities and central purchasing authorities, as well as non-central contracting authorities and contracting entities, collectively denoted as CAs, are required to receive and process standardised electronic invoices (eInvoices) for contracts, regardless of the contract value. Financial entities (B2G Providers/sellers) are obliged to issue eInvoices to CAs.

Adoption is overseen by the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Digital Governance, Ministry of Development and Investments, and the Ministry of Infrastructures and Transportations.

All CAs are updating their ERP systems to receive and process eInvoices. In case where CAs do not, for the time being, possess such capabilities, the EDHT application implemented and managed by the General Secretariat for Information Systems of Public Administration (GSIS PA) accepts, manages, presents, and submits incoming eInvoices for clearance and payment.

About the use of Peppol

The Peppol eInvoicing specifications provided by OpenPeppol underpin the integrated digital computing platform used in Greece. The IT platform is comprised of distributed components, over the Peppol eDelivery network and the public Internet, that participate through orchestrated web services based on open SOA standards, in the execution of eInvoicing processes, among sellers /public providers and buyers/State Contracting Authorities.

It is estimated that invoices to the value of at least 11-billion-euro can potentially be routed as valid eInvoices through the established Peppol apparatus in Greece, should all sellers and public buyers be obligated to use it.

Peppol Authority

The Peppol Interoperability Framework for Greece (Peppol-IF) is monitored, controlled, and governed by the Greek National Peppol Authority. The GSIS PA of the Greek Ministry of Digital Governance was appointed as the Peppol Authority, by virtue of the presidential decree 40/2020 (National Gazette FEK 85A 15.04.2020) and the law 4961/2022 (National Gazette FEK 146A 27.07.2022).

The GSIS PA, in its mission as the National Peppol Authority, is responsible for :

• ensuring and overseeing the adherence of Peppol Service Providers (SPs) and sellers to the Peppol-IF
• onboarding of candidate SPs
• finalising Peppol SP Agreements
• providing 1^st level support to Peppol SPs for technical and regulatory issues
• maintaining the Peppol national CIUS and providing technical guidelines
• providing 2^nd level support for technical issues regarding the Peppol national CIUS
• contributing to promotional actions for Peppol and eInvoicing

eInvoicing and the Use of peppol in Greece

Sellers (Corner 1 in the Peppol-IF) consist of over 49,000 private institutions, providing goods and services to Contracting Authorities. Sellers interface with the Peppol-IF through their Corner 2 Access Points (Service Providers) of which there are currently four operating in Greece.

Buyers (Corner 4 in the Peppol-IF) consists of over 2,800 public Contracting Authorities (Cas), who interface with the Peppol-IF through the unique Peppol Corner 3 Access Point, established and running at GSIS PA.

Sellers issue eInvoices as standardised XML documents, according to the Peppol CIUS (national standard), established by the Joint Ministerial Decision 63446/2022, National Gazette 2338B 02.07.2021, which is the only authoritative and official form of the electronic invoice.

The sellers submit eInvoices to their contracted Peppol Service Provider (Corner 2), who in turn validates and transmits the invoices over the Peppol Network to the State’s unique Service Provider (Corner 3) running at GSIS PA. The National Interoperability Center at GSIS PA (KE.D) aggregates all incoming traffic from Corner 3, validates the eInvoice documents and routes them to the appropriate CAs, as their final destination, for clearance and payment, based on navigation data listed in every eInvoice XML document.

Sellers and their APs are provided by KE.D with  full situational awareness of the eInvoices they issue, by receiving response messages coming from KE.D, which trace and reflect the current status of every eInvoice document, in the course of the path all the way from Corner 2  to the buyer CA (Corner 4).

eInvoices issued by Greece-based B2G providers are also upfront validated for integrity and correctness and marked accordingly, by the myDATA platform of the Independent Authority of Public Revenues (AADE,) before they enter the Peppol Network, ensuring that only valid eInvoices are permitted to circulate in the network.

Requirements for international B2G Sellers and Peppol Service Providers:

• All B2G eInvoices for Greece must be mandatorily characterised by: 
  Contracting Authority code/label; Funding Source; Commitment Decision (AAY); Project Reference; Project Number (Enarithmos PDE); Contract Reference (ADAM); Seller’s VAT Identifier; Seller’s contact details; CPV codes (Common Procurement Vocabulary) per itemised good or service the eInvoice pertains to; the Contracting Authority’s (buyer) name and contact details; delivery information; and the buyer’s VAT identifier.
• International B2G sellers to the Greek State, based outside Greece, are eligible to send their e-Invoices to Greek Contracting Authorities, as long as they use a certified PEPPOL AP of their choice (either local or in Greece) and comply at large with the data specifications of the Greek PEPPOL CIUS
• Peppol SPs outside Greece wishing to serve their B2G international customers (based outside Greece Greece) that conduct businesses with the Greek State, are welcome to do so freely, in accordance with the Peppol standard
• Peppol SPs outside Greece, in the case they would like to serve Greek providers to the Greek State, based in Greece, can do so in three alternate ways:
  1. 1. establish a local subsidiary company in Greece
     2. have this subsidiary accredited as YPAHES by the Independent Authority of Public Revenues (AADE)
     3. transmit eInvoices of their Greek customers to Corner 3 (GSIS PA) through the local subsidiary, physically using the AP IT platform of the parent company
  2. 1. establish a local subsidiary company in Greece
     2. have this subsidiary accredited as YPAHES by AADE
     3. have this subsidiary become a certified Peppol SP
     4. transmit eInvoices of their Greek customers to Corner 3 (GSIS PA) through their local subsidiary in Greece, using the AP platform of the local subsidiary
  3. 1. find and contract with a Greek certified Peppol SP, based in Greece and accredited as YPAHES by AADE
     2. establish a physical network connection with that company
     3. transmit, through this company’s AP platform (Corner 2), the eInvoices for their Greek customers
     4. the Greek Peppol AP at Corner 2 would in turn transit the eInvoices to the unique Greek State AP at GSIS PA (Corner 3)
• International, certified Peppol SPs are strongly advised before commencing sending B2G eInvoices to Corner 3 (GSIS PA) to make contact with KE.D (GSIS PA National Interoperability Center) on kedsupport@gsis.gr , to receive further and specific on-boarding instructions on how to proceed.

Useful Links

Useful Links

Greece Peppol Authority                    eMail: peppol@gsis.gr

Page last updated: 5^th May 2023