Brussels, 21/09/11 (Agence Europe) - An action plan focusing on good regional European project management and removing red tape to ensure better management of EU structural funds in Greece was unveiled on Wednesday 21 September 2011 by EU Regional Policy Commissioner Hahn as he emerged from a three-day seminar in Athens, attended by Greek ministers and regional governors. A list of infrastructure projects to be implemented using EU Structural Fund cash, prepared by the Greek government in liaison with Hahn's department at the Commission, was also unveiled. The commissioner said Greece needed an economic stimulus, the main source of which in the current situation was the European Structural Funds. He said action was needed now to take advantage of European funding.
Some €15 billion from the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund have been earmarked for between now and the end of 2013 (the end of the current financial programming period). One hundred projects, at least one for each of the 13 regions of Greece, are on the list, and over the next 10 days details of the deadlines and project managers will be added to the list. The infrastructure covered by the projects includes transport, energy, the environment, innovation, tourism, culture and digital infrastructure, which should make Greece more competitive, boost economic growth and reduce unemployment. Greek Regional Development and Competitiveness Minister Michalis Chryochoidis said it was time to do away with the old way of doing things and use EU funding differently. He said it was time for Greece to commit to change and go further than it had in the past, pledging to respect deadlines and fight the bureaucratic monster Greeks had built up over the years.
Another aim of the action plan is to remove red tape in the application of projects co-funded by the EU, particularly regarding land expropriations for infrastructure projects and issuing environment permits (in no more than six months, rather than more than twelve at present).
Commissioner Hahn said the solution lay in the hands of small business, saying that if each SME took on one unemployed person, then the jobless problem could be solved. To help this process along (if requested by the Greek government and parliament), the Commission could extend certain EU funding to provide temporary guarantees to small businesses. The commissioner took a positive stance, saying that Greece performed better than was suggested by the stereotypes of the country, but everything needed to move up a gear to obtain tangible results. (MD/transl.fl)