“Two types of regional programmes have been designed for the different European Regions. More specifically, they are set up:
– taking into account geographical criteria, normally the GDP of a certain region compared to the EU average
– taking into account other considerations apart from geographical criteria, such as environmental protection, promotion of innovation and knowledge society, entrepreneurship and others,” underlined in an interview to “In-On” magazine, Mr. Panos Carvounis, Head Delegate of the European Commission in Greece.
1) How are the European funds distributed among the 13 Greek regions?
Let me start with the broader picture: for the period 2007-2013 Greece has been allocated € 20.4 billion in total Cohesion Funding. This is a very important amount of funding and a decisive source of growth, in particular in the context of the difficult economic situation of the country. In the previous period 2000-2006, Cohesion Policy contributed to increasing the gross domestic product of Greece by 2.8%. To give you just some examples, during this period, these funds helped over 257.000 people to improve their skills in new training programmes, supported 23.000 firms seeking to upgrade technologically and helped 7.000 business start-ups, improved transport infrastructure including new road links, and funded over 500 projects on energy and renewable sources of energy.
And now let’s go back to your initial question: how these funds are distributed among the different regions? The Cohesion Policy is implemented through different objectives, funds and programmes. But in broad terms, we can say that the programmes are of two types: regional and sectoral. The regional programmes are designed taking into account geographical criteria, normally the GDP of a certain region compared to the EU average. The funds under the sectoral programmes also go to the regions, but not on the basis of geographical criteria. In this case, the programmes are set up taking into account other considerations, such as environmental protection, promotion of innovation and knowledge society, entrepreneurship and others. All regions of Greece benefit from the Cohesion policy as a whole, but if we take into account only the geographical criteria, which concerns almost € 14.7 billion out of the total € 20.4 billion, the distribution is as follows: Attiki € 3.07 billion, Kentriki Makedonia € 2.23 billion, Dytiki Ellada € 1.84 billion, Thessalia € 1.59 billion, Anatoliki Makedonia-Thraki € 1.50 billion, Kriti € 0.96 billion, Peloponnisos € 0.92 billion, Ipeiros € 0.80 billion, Dytiki Makedonia € 0.47 billion, Sterea Ellada € 0.45 billion, Ionia Nisia € 0.43 billion, Voreio Aigaio € 0.30 billion, Notio Aigaio € 0.13 billion.
2) Is there a possibility to use the funds for the periphery to entrepreneurship and development projects?
Indeed, supporting the creation and growth of businesses, in particular small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), are key ways by which cohesion policy helps to boost regional economies. SMEs are the real giants of the European economy, accounting for 99% of businesses and up to two-thirds of all private sector jobs in the European Union. However, SMEs often have difficulty in accessing capital and knowledge and frequently lack experience. EU cohesion policy is aimed at tackling these difficulties through a combination of “hard” measures, such as direct support to investment, and “soft” ones, notably the provision of business support services, training, an innovative environment, financial engineering and technology transfer, as well as the support of networks and clusters. In the period 2007-2013, cohesion policy programmes support: a) the creation and growth of SMEs, in particular linked to entrepreneurship, access to finance, research and innovation, technology transfer, access to information and communication technologies or environmentally friendly production; b) other support to both large and small businesses, including productive investment and the provision of business support services in the abovementioned areas; c) actions aimed at anticipating and managing economic and structural changes to ensure more and better jobs for Europe. In Greece, almost 14% of available funds (€ 2.8 billion) are targeted for all this kind of programmes supporting business.
3) In which of the regions is the construction of new roads top priority?
Let me first clarify that investment decisions are made at national and regional levels and not in Brussels. And since we are still at the middle of the period of reference, we still have to wait to see the specific projects presented to have a clear image of how many and where new roads are constructed. What we can already say is that transport in general, and not only road transport but also air, rail, maritime and urban transport, is a key priority. In fact, enhancing accessibility is of key importance to strengthening regional economies and achieving cohesion and competitiveness. This is particularly true in Greece, where € 6 billion are available for investment in transport for the period 2007-2013. This means that 30% of the total available funds for the country are earmarked for transportation projects, the highest percentage together with Slovenia in the whole EU (EU27 average 24%).
4)Are there funds for the development of energy?
The three pillars of the energy policy which the EU pursues are security of supply, affordable energy for competitive economies and environmental sustainability. The main objectives of this policy is saving 20% of energy consumption compared to projections for 2020 and reaching a 20% share of renewable sources of energy by 2020. Cohesion Policy contributes to these objectives by addressing the intensive use of traditional energy sources, energy efficiency and renewable energies in order to make regions a more attractive place while promoting renewable energies as motors for innovation and growth. Emphasis has been put into renewable energies, a source with a lot of potential for Greece. Indeed, the allocations to renewable energies in the EU for the period 2007-13 are five times higher than those available during the previous period 2000-20006. In Greece, there are a total amount of € 625 million for investments in Energy programmes, half of them on renewable sources. This represents 3.1% of all funds available in the Cohesion policy, the same percentage dedicated to energy at EU level.
So you can see that there is definitively no lack of resources under the Cohesion Policy. But I would add that this availability of funds is at the same time an opportunity and a challenge for all member states, as they have to dispose of the proper mechanisms and human resources to maximize the use of these investment opportunities. So far, the level of payments made by the Commission to Greece in the current period 2007-2013 has reached 21% of the total amount, all funds included. This stands above the average at EU level, which is around 16%, but at the same time this means that significant amounts of investment are still available and must be used. In order to help Greece to finance part of the national budget contribution to those investments, the European Investment Bank granted to this country in July a loan of € 2 billion, which is the largest loan by the EIB to Greece ever. I have not only the hope, but also the conviction that Greece will continue to do its best to make the optimum use of this important source of growth for the benefit of the country, its regions and its citizens.
CURRICULUM VITAE
Panayotis CARVOUNIS was born in Patras – Greece.
He studied Law at the Universities of Athens and Paris and in 1982 he was proclaimed “Docteur d’Etat” in Law by the University of Paris-Pantheon/Sorbonne.
He speaks French and English fluently.
He has been working in the European Commission since 1982.
November 2010 – to date: Head of the Representation of the European Commission in Greece.
April 2006 – October 2010: Deputy Director-General of the Directorate General Communication (DG COMM). In charge of major communication operations (European elections in 2009, International Expo Zaragoza in 2008), he developed the communication strategy of the European Commission and co-ordinates it with the European Parliament and Member States. He has special responsibility for the European Commission’s Representations in the Member States, as well as for multimedia communication tools.
April 1st, 2005 – January 2006: Acting Director-General of Directorate General Press and Communication (DG COMM). He developed the “Action Plan to improve communicating Europe by the Commission”, as well as the “Plan D for Democracy, Dialogue and Debate”. He put in place a new form of close cooperation between the European Institutions and the Member States (“management partnerships”). He reorganised DG COMM in the Headquarters and the Representations.
October 2002 to March 2005: Director for “Information and Communication strategies and policies” in the Directorate General Press (DG PRESS). He conducted the transformation of 10 “Delegations” of the European Commission to “Representations” in the new member states and the creation of a new network of 400 info relays (“Europe Direct”) in all member States. He increased the synergies between Commission Spokespersons and the other communication tools of the European Commission.
April 2001 to September 2002: Director for “Resources” and in parallel acting Director for “Interinstitutional Relations, Information Policy and Representations” in the newly created DG PRESS. He conducted the preparation of the communication strategies and implemented them. He also implemented Commission administrative reform in DG Press. He intensified the cooperation with the European Parliament and the member States in the field of communication at central and local levels.
June 2000 to March 2001: Principal Adviser to Press and Communication Service (SPC) where he developed and managed the newly created Service: Co-ordinator of the 23 Commission Representations in the Member States; the human and budget resources of the Service; the EUROPA web site and the Audio-visual Unit (Europe by Satellite).
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