EU funds get green light
The European Commission gave Greece the green light yesterday on its aid spending plans, paving the way for Athens to receive EU payments of -20 billion over the next seven years. Greece becomes the second EU country, after Malta, to have its program for the 2007-2013 accepted by the Commission. «This decision is the result of constructive cooperation between Greek authorities and the Commission,» said Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hubner after meeting with Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis. Under new EU rules, governments must receive Commission approval for their spending plans before receiving EU regional aid under the Structural and Cohesion Funds. PASOK MP Vasso Papandreou said the amount Greece will receive is closer to -13 billion as -7 billion will cover losses from the Third Community Support Framework that arose due to poor absorption rates.
