EU growth funds to drop 40 pct
Greece stands to receive 8 billion euros less in the context of the European Union?s next funding period, from 2014 to 2020, than the current one.
The decline in resources for Greece is due to the methodology used by the European Commission for the distribution of funds among member states as well as the categorization of the country?s regions depending on per capita GDP from the 2007-09 period — just before the economic crisis began in earnest.
Negotiations for the EU?s Multiannual Financial Framework for the next funding period after the current one of 2007-13 have already started and should be completed by the end of the year.
Greece had secured funds of 20.4 billion euros for the 2007-13 period, and despite the difficulties in their absorption, those resources constitute the only real hope for the country to restart its economy and emerge from the recession. In the next funding period, that amount may well go down to just over 12 billion euros.
