Brussels, 22/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - Implementation of the new cohesion policy legislative framework for 2014-2020 will be the focus of the Greek Presidency's attention. The technical issues, in the shape of delegated acts, will also require effort on the part of the presidency.
The Greek minister for development and competitiveness, Kostis Hatzidakis, provided members of the Parliamentary regional development committee with assurances of this. The high point of the Greek Presidency's work in this field will be in Athens on 24-25 April during the informal meeting for ministers responsible for cohesion policy. Hatzidakis indicated that this meeting will not just be a “talking shop” and that he wanted it to be a workshop, “where member states can examine the different provisions” with the help of the European Commission. He also stated that the informal meeting could help to “resolve questions raised by member states quickly”. The Greek minister said that a more short-term challenge facing the Presidency would involve adoption of the delegated acts: technical questions that would require “an intense level of discussion between member states”, he pointed out. He also warned that the Commission would probably incorporate several articles in a single act and that this could possibly delay the adoption process because a single member state that is opposed to just one aspect of the package could effectively end up rejecting the whole agreement. (MD/transl.fl)