Gov’t admits possible EU subsidy loss
The Economy Ministry is now admitting it is possible that some of the European Commission subsidies for the 2007-13 funding period, which has been extended until December 2015, may be lost, despite the “laborious effort of the last few months to restore normality in the payment flow for the subsidy program’s projects,” and it is asking for another extension.
The ministry concedes the country could miss out on some of the subsidies in spite of the recent decisions by the Commission to increase its contribution rate to 100 percent and return to Athens the national share of 5 percent that is usually withheld until the completion of the programs, scheduled for March 2017.
In theory, Greece could benefit from those two decisions to the tune of an estimated 1 billion euros for the current program, but the ministry admits that “this may not prove enough to avoid the loss of resources, so the Greek government will continue to request an extension to the payment of European subsidies for the 2007-13 program.”
Greece is not alone in asking for an extension, as Italy and six other member-states have also done so.
