Meeting with its President Commission Ursula von der Leyen had in her office at her headquarters Commission at Brussels the Regional Governor of Central Macedonia Apostolos Tzizikostas.

Mr. Tzitzikostas discussed with Ms. Von der Leyen about a number of issues of mutual interest, about the Cohesion Policy, the optimal use of European resources by the Regions and Municipalities of Europe and the important projects that are being done and planned to be done in Central Macedonia.

The Governor of Central Macedonia pointed out to the President of the Commission that “the Cohesion Policy is a key pillar of the European edifice, for the implementation of interventions to improve the daily life of citizens and for the recovery of Europe from successive crises, through the work of all the Regions and Municipalities. Through cohesion resources, not only the Regions and Municipalities of Europe benefit, but every European citizen”.

Also, Mr. Tzitzikostas and Mrs. Von der Leyen discussed the optimal utilization of European resources, as according to the Regional Governor it is the most important means for upgrading citizens’ lives, creating conditions for development in each region, but and dealing with crises, such as the recent pandemic, war in Ukraine, energy and refugee-immigrant crises.

“The European resources from the NSRF, the Recovery Fund and the other financial tools of the EU, it is necessary to reach in a targeted way to all local societies, to all citizens, through projects and actions. This can be guaranteed by the Regions and the Municipalities, who have proven that they are able to transform impersonal resources into a measurable project for every citizen. As they have proven to be the bulwark against every crisis. That is why it is necessary to immediately strengthen the role of the Regions and Municipalities in the decision-making process, in the planning and implementation of projects and actions. The EU must listen to local societies more, it must cooperate even more closely with the Regions and Municipalities, because they are the institutions, which are closest to the A European citizen and because they have proven that they can succeed in the face of any obstacle, no matter how big it is,” underlined Mr. Tzitzikostas.

Also, the Regional Governor of Central Macedonia presented to the President of the Commission the projects that are being implemented and planned to be implemented with funding from European resources in Central Macedonia, as the implementation of the new NSRF has now begun, which amounts to approximately 1.5 billion euros and constitutes the largest intervention ever made in the Region of Central Macedonia. Mr. Tzitzikostas informed Mrs. Von der Leyen about the priority axes of the new NSRP of the Central Macedonia Region, about the first invitations that were opened and about the first projects that were included in the new NSRP and their implementation began.

The Regional Governor and the President of the Commission discussed the work of Mr. Tzitzikostas in the presidency of the European Committee of the Regions, while the Regional Governor invited Mrs. Von der Leyen to Thessaloniki, in order to see and inspect projects implemented by the Central Region of Macedonia, with European resources, projects that improve the daily life of citizens and are examples of the overall intervention of the European Union in the standard of living of the inhabitants of the region.