The famous Juncker package to help humiliated Greece create jobs and growth and investment is under way. HURRAH! A festive-mood statement issue by the European Commission assures that the Jobs and Growth Plan can be start arriving as soon as possible.
“As an exceptional measure and in light of the unique situation of Greece, the Commission proposes to improve immediate liquidity so that investments can still be funded in the 2007-2013 programming period.”
More than €35 billion are stuffed in Juncker’s lucky bag awaiting to be distributed dot Greeks. But Where will all this nice money come from?
“€35 billion that Greece could receive from the 2014-2020 programming period would consist of €20 billion from the European Structural and Investment Funds as well as €15 billion from Agricultural Funds.“
In order to silence those complaining “Hey! Just 35bn?“, magician Jean-Claude adds another €500 million!
“Early release of the last 5% of remaining EU payments normally retained until the closure of the programmes and applying a 100% co-financing rate for the 2007-2013 period. This would translate into immediate additional liquidity of some €500 million and a saving for the Greek budget of around €2 billion.”
And to put a final end to criticism, Juncker pulls the last joker from his sleeves:
“The Commission will also propose to increase the rate of initial pre-financing for programmes for 2014-2020 in Greece by 7 percentage points[1]. This extra pre-financing can make an additional €1 billion.“
Who will benefit from this exceptional funding for exceptional people in exceptional needs and exceptional situation? They can flow into investment, fighting unemployment, poverty and poor social conditions, research and education as well as infrastructure.
“The new European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI) will benefit commercially viable investment projects in Greece.
As “commercially viable investment projects” the EC statement lists “huge projects” of the same good old tradition that supports “the usual suspects” – in corruption critical jargon they call them: the oligarchs and their cronies.
“EU funding has already been the primary source of public investment in Greece during the crisis. For example, the Athens metro, the General Hospital in Katerini, the Acropolis museum and the district heating system of Kozani were all financed largely from the EU budget.”
The cheerful European Commision stresses enthusiastically:
“The first payments from these EU funds in 2014 and 2015 already amount to €4.4 billion.”
On another paragraph though the EC openly admits that the EU Structural Funds were not given to Greece because, they did not ‘trust’ the left-wing Greek government right from the beginning. Much to my knowledge, Greece has not received any EU Funds in 2015 and the projects running now are funded from the 2013-program. In their eyes it was a …naughty, a very naughty left government, anyway. And the EC had cut the Funds unilateral.
“The use of EU funds has not been a given for Greece lately. In recent months, tight financing conditions and uncertainty about the economic situation have disrupted investment plans and put into question the ability of the Greek authorities to make good and full use of available EU funding.”
No, the EC does not make specific reference to the Erasmus program but now the EC statement seems to confirm that Greece was excluded from the program beginning of June 2015.
On June 23rd 2015, right after an Euro Leaders Summit, EC President Juncker had announced his €35bn “Development” or “Investment Plan” to Greece to be given from 2015-2020. The very first announcement of Juncker’s plan was on June 4th when the EC President offered this mysterious package to Greek government, “provided that they implemented programs that would enable our Greek friends to master these funds.”
KeepTalkingGreece (What is the mysterious €35bn aid package Juncker offers to Greece?) first and later newspapers latribune.fr (France) and efsyn.gr)(Greece) attempted to get a look into Juncker’s mysterious ways especially because the original announcement would not explain where the money would come from and it looked as if Juncker did not also have the €35billion he wanted so generously to give to Greece.
Now the big mystery has been unveiled, the bubble has gone burst: Juncker will Fund his €35-billion Jobs & Growth Plan to Greece with the good old EU Structural & Investment and Agricultural Funds that Greece is eligible to receive as member of the European Union, anyway.
KTG understands that the Brussels Agreement lifted the sanctions against Greece and that the European Commission had decided to cut the EU Funds Greece as if it was Russia or Iraq under Saddam and Libya under Gaddafi. And without official and unanimously taken decision.
Appalling, isn’t it?
Here is the 35billion euro statement
A new start for jobs and growth in Greece: Commission mobilises more than €35 billion from the EU budget
Brussels, 15 July 2015
Two days after an agreement paving the way for a new support programme for Greece, the European Commission revealed plans today to help Greece maximise its use of EU funds. As mandated by the Euro Summit on 12/13 July, this will help mobilise more than €35 billion up to 2020 to support the Greek economy, provided that the conditions agreed upon by the Euro Summit will be met.
The Jobs and Growth Plan for Greece is meant to flank the comprehensive set of reforms that could form part of a programme under the European Stability Mechanism to be negotiated in the coming weeks between Greece and its international partners. Both elements – the reforms and the mobilisation of funds for investment and cohesion – are essential preconditions for restoring jobs and growth in Greece and returning the country to prosperity.
The Jobs and Growth Plan will help to invest in people and companies in Greece. It is a continuation of the support the Commission has already provided to Greece throughout the crisis, both in terms of financial support and technical assistance.
As an exceptional measure and in light of the unique situation of Greece, the Commission proposes to improve immediate liquidity so that investments can still be funded in the 2007-2013 programming period. These will include early release of the last 5% of remaining EU payments normally retained until the closure of the programmes and applying a 100% co-financing rate for the 2007-2013 period. This would translate into immediate additional liquidity of some €500 million and a saving for the Greek budget of around €2 billion. This money will be available to immediately resume financing for investments supporting growth and job. It is conditional on the Greek authorities ensuring that these additional funds are fully used for the beneficiaries and operations under the programmes.. The Commission will also propose to increase the rate of initial pre-financing for programmes for 2014-2020 in Greece by 7 percentage points[1]. This extra pre-financing can make an additional €1 billion available to be used only for the launch of the projects co-financed under the cohesion policy in full compliance with Article 81 (2) of the Common Provision Regulation.
Greece has already benefited from preferential treatment: Greek programmes financed with EU funds in 2007-2013 receive a higher proportion of EU financing. Therefore, Greece is required to co-finance less than many other countries via a 10% “top up” of EU co-financing until mid-2016. In many cases, this means that the EU pays for 95% of the total investment cost under the 2007-2013 financing period (as opposed to the maximum of 85% otherwise applicable).
In addition, for cohesion policy, provided all conditions are met, the Greek authorities can still continue to be reimbursed up to the regulatory 95% ceiling for eligible expenditure made on 2007-2013 programmes.
Today’s Communication follows the setting up of a High-Level Group under the leadership of Vice-President Dombrovskis. Together with the Greek authorities, this Group aims to ensure that all the money available from the 2007-2013 programming period is used before it expires at the end of the year, and to help Greece meet the requirements to access all EU Funds available to it in 2014-2020.
Greece will also continue to benefit from technical support for reforms and implementation from the Commission’s new Structural Reform Support Service, which began its work on 1 July and builds on the valuable experience of the Task Force for Greece and other technical assistance provided to Member States.
The Investment Plan for Europe can play a crucial role for jobs and growth in Greece. The new European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI) will benefit commercially viable investment projects in Greece. The new European Investment Advisory Hub will provide targeted outreach activities and assistance to help investors, project promoters, authorities and SMEs to construct projects that are likely to be eligible for EFSI-financing. Assistance will also be available on how to combine EFSI-financing with the EU’s Structural and Investment Fund.
Background
On the basis of proposals made by President Juncker, the Euro Summit of 12 July 2015 asked the Commission to help support job and growth creation in Greece in the next three to five years. It tasked the Commission to “work closely with the Greek authorities to mobilise up to €35 billion (under various EU programmes) to fund investment and economic activity, including in SMEs”.
EU funding has already been the primary source of public investment in Greece during the crisis. For example, the Athens metro, the General Hospital in Katerini, the Acropolis museum and the district heating system of Kozani were all financed largely from the EU budget. The more than €35 billion that Greece could receive from the 2014-2020 programming period would consist of €20 billion from the European Structural and Investment Funds as well as €15 billion from Agricultural Funds. They can flow into investment, fighting unemployment, poverty and poor social conditions, research and education as well as infrastructure. The first payments from these EU funds in 2014 and 2015 already amount to €4.4 billion
The use of EU funds has not been a given for Greece lately. In recent months, tight financing conditions and uncertainty about the economic situation have disrupted investment plans and put into question the ability of the Greek authorities to make good and full use of available EU funding.
A significant number of projects are currently at risk of not being completed. Furthermore, if the Greek authorities do not make full use of EU funding still available under the 2007-2013 financing period by the end of this year, they will miss out on roughly €2 billion. Greece must have basic legal requirements in place, such as respecting EU rules, sound financial management of the funds and accounting, in order to benefit from EU funding.
[1]This does not include the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) for which the pre-financing has been already increased to 30%, see Regulation (EU) No 2015/779 amending Regulation (EU) No 1304/2013 (via EC website).
Statements by Juncker & Co you can read in EC website here.
With 107 opposing members of the committee plus votes by KKE and XA the ECB must decide to lift the embargo very fast also; unfortunatly Draghi is too busy showing Lew the best bordellos in Frankfurt.
Why is Greece HUMILIATED ?
Where do you see that ?
The Greek people are fighting for, not only their lives & livelyhood But for the freedom of their nation.
Today, MONEY is the new war.
Jean-Claude Jumker is 60 years old & approaching senility.
We MUST question his capacity to reason in a rational & productive manner.
Especially when the lives of persons & the stability of a nations financial existence is at stake.
By his own admission, Jean-Claude Junker (in an interview with The Telegrapn July 2014) has told the whole world that he is unscruplious…to say the least of how he opperates.
Why has this man not been asked to stand down & been replaced by a more honorable person ?
Agree. I’d rather deal with Shauble than Juncker. One may not like Schauble’ positions but at least he’ll tell you where he stands (although not very diplomatically. Juncker is most untrustworthy of them all. Hollande is not far behind.
MOST DISTRUSTFUL:
1. Schauble
2. Merkle
3. ECB
In fact Juncker was asked to step down. The GUE group in european parlament put forward a motion last year to remove Juncker from his position of president of EU comission. This came after the LuxLeaks scandal when it was revealed that Juncker had helped many multinationals to evade paying taxes in the eurozone via Luxembourg.
Better late than never. And quantitative easing is necessary, too.
Your polls show that Greeks decided to stay in euro on bad conditions, instead of Grexit. Now I read that probably even leaders of Syriza decided it in voting…
Paradoxically, now I am an optimist. Greeks know that they have no other way – it would be a nonsense to make Grexit in a year after additional sacrifices.
When I did my research thesis work on the Greek economy in 1988, I was told by the vast majority of (Pasok) economists that EU funding had badly damaged Greece by promoting corruption. The explanation was — and remains — that in order to absorb the EU structural funds the Greek bureaucracy had to work directly with the private sector and rapidly submit complex applications that nobody could actually cope with. The easiest way to get things done was to offer money (e.g. to farmers), take a cut, and sort out the ghastly mess of papers for the EU. Everything was semi-fake. Most economists felt that EC membership had damaged Greece and its economic development.
In the 1990s, in order to increase the low absorption rate of funds, the Commission then decided to hand the money directly to Greek ministries. You can imagine what happened.
So, in all of this story of the EU and Greece since 1981, the Commission has actively facilitated corruption, all economists have known of it for at least 25 years, and they do nothing to change their ways. They do complain loudly about greeks, though.
Oh, and as a related issue: have we all forgotten about the European Commission of 1999 that was forced to resign over its own corruption, fraud and embezzlement of moneys? Are people aware that the EU’s own accountants — the Court of Auditors — has refused to validate EU accounts for a decade, owing to fraud and corruption? The Commission has consistently refused to prosecute Commission staff detected in cases of fraud and false accounting.
And where is Germany in all of this? Why? Just collecting their own billions and engaging in their own corruption: they are not bothered by fraud and criminal activities at all. On the contrary, they are participating.
oh the ‘poor’ PASOK was forced to corrupt…
in 2012 or 2013 Germany tried to push the idea that EU Funds are being audit by EU but not member agreed with the idea.
in 2013 or 2014 Denmark was top on the list for corruption of agricultural funds -farmers got the funds and did something else with these.
*sorry, i cant remember the years exactly.
All this system of pouring EU money somewhere is strange. But are we sure that we want to finish it ?
I fear that corruption is everywhere. And that it is a nice word to justify anything :
Ukraine / Greece/ X / Y did not take necessary steps to :
a) promote important reforms ;
b) eradicate corruption.
Any time when something fails, one can use this phrase. Choose freely : Aa, Bb , Xab etc.
pls don;t fall into trap and compare Ukraine with Greece. not connection at all
Of course no connection. But the stories when something fails are the same. Universal. The same will be when something fails in Samoa, Venezuela, Portugal and Zambia. Just stress can change : in Portugal more about reforms , and in Samoa about corruption.
Choice of countries is accidental.
still: no connection and comparison dangerous deliberate
What I meant is exactly: totally different situations are explained in the press (and also by many politicians) very often by the same stories – the main story is lack of reforms and corruption. And the truth is : the situations are very different and sometimes there are too many reforms. These stories cover mistakes and incompetence…
yes, simplify and generalize serve to cover mistakes & incompetence to get votes (politicians), sell info (media)
Well said!
By the way, without these phrases life would be too brutal and filled with self-criticism. It is normal that such situation is avoided.