“The green Europe will not be at the expense of the economy and certainly not of European Agriculture”, stressed the vice-president of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas, during his speech at the Pieria Chamber dinner, while for Greece he said that “today it is an important economic champion, is a model of stability and the real development challenge for the country is the absorption and use of the two combined European financial mechanisms, the Recovery Fund and the NSRF 2021-2027.

“At a time when Greece is as strong as ever in its recent past, stable and leading player, just before the end of the current European situation, at the dawn of the next political cycle in June, it is raising, through the Recovery Fund and the NSRF 2021 -2027, resources that we never had at our disposal! That is why the current programming period until 2027 is a historic opportunity for Greece and of course Europe. Almost 21 billion euros in community resources from the NSRF 2021-2027 plus 30.5 billion in loans and subsidies from the Recovery and Resilience Fund for the period 2021-2026. You realize that we are talking about astronomical, dizzying amounts that no one could have ever imagined. Greece actually has “two NSRFs” in one programming period,” he said Mr. Schinas continued: “Their proper utilization can ensure unique prospects for the Greek economy, development and the future of the country as a whole. It is the opportunity to change what did not go well in the previous decades in its development structure. Redefine the national production model where appropriate.

The green Europe

This is the opportunity to implement reforms and cuts that will address the critical issues ailing the country at their root. Without wishing to dramatize the moment, chairman. The time for this is now! And the course of our country so far, its extroversion, self-confidence and effectiveness in all critical fields has proven that now that the sea gives birth to opportunities the ship is on the right course”.

For the NSRF 2021-2027 he noted that it was based on a new effort that modernizes the EU’s cohesion policy, an area that fully and timeless captures the concept of European solidarity, the fundamental basis of the European value framework.

The objectives of the new NSRF aim at a Europe:

-Smarter.

– Greener, but realistically, not at the expense of the economy and certainly not at the expense of European Agriculture.

-More connected.

-More social.

-Which implements the European Pillar of Social Rights and supports quality employment, education, skills, social inclusion and equal access to health care.

-Closer to citizens, which supports locally-led development strategies and promotes sustainable urban development across the EU.

These priorities illustrate the vision for the Europe of the future, the Europe of tomorrow.

To the “good students” Greece regarding the management of the NSRF

Mr. Schinas said that in terms of the management of NSRF resources, Greece has been among the “good students” in recent years. At the “first desk!”. It was the first Member State to sign a partnership agreement with the European Commission for the new NSRF 2021-2027. And this did not come about by chance, but because of the good preparation and hard work that had been done at the government level. These good performances are also confirmed in practice, as the Greek plan for the NSRF 2021-2027 fully corresponds to the European plan.

In the context of the NSRF 2021-2027, the following are foreseen:

– Actions to promote digital skills for 534,000 citizens,

-Investment in skills for smart specialisation, industrial transition and entrepreneurship by 3,300 SMEs,

-Energy upgrade of more than 52,000 homes and 950,000 sq.m. public buildings,

21.4 km of new metro lines for Athens and Thessaloniki, 331 km of new and upgraded railway network, as well as upgrading of road and port infrastructures,

-Supporting 50,400 employees to upgrade their professional skills,

-Establishment of employment and social inclusion programs that will benefit over 137,000 unemployed and 204,000 young people aged 15-29, among others,

As he pointed out, today, we are able to calculate that 15 years after the end of each program period, every 1 euro of Community resources adds 2.7 euros to the European economy. In other words, the investment through the long-term programs, of each subsidy, brings a threefold benefit to the economy!

The Recovery and Resilience Fund

The Recovery and Resilience Fund functions in addition to the resources of the NSRF, and is another historic first in the history of the European project.

This radical initiative, which pre-pandemic seemed unimaginable, is based on a form of “debt mutualisation”, and includes a total of 723 billion for investment in reforms and projects for the entire European Union

At this point he recalled that not too far away, in the “decade of fire”, at the core of the crisis, the famous “common bonds” were the main issue in the public debate.

For this reason, he explained, he refers to the Recovery and Resilience Fund as “the European superweapon with the characteristics of a new Marshall Plan”.

The lack of qualified personnel is an endemic problem in Europe

Asked what is most pressing to change with these fundings, his answer is unmistakably the skills issue.

“I have repeatedly discussed the shortages in available human resources of each specialty with the chambers, I am well aware of the difficulties you are facing,” said Mr. Schinas and added: “And this, you know, is a European problem. For the first time after decades in Europe, we do not have people chasing jobs but jobs looking for people.

The lack of qualified personnel in Europe is an endemic problem. These deficiencies significantly affect growth, innovation, and competitiveness. In short, Europe and Greece need a skills revolution, and they need it now.”

In Greece, through the National Recovery Plan, a series of large-scale skills training programs of over €2 billion by 2026 involving 500,000 unemployed and employed people are foreseen. In addition, subsidies of more than 1.6 billion euros are foreseen from the European Social Fund for the promotion of skills in Greece, with specially designed training programs per region taking into account the needs of the local society and market.

“In Europe, in Greece we must not turn our backs on people and specialties that are useful to us, we need them and can help our production process. There are areas and specialties that we cannot cover and our competitiveness is reduced. That is why in In Europe we now have the conditions for a framework that creates conditions for legal migration corridors. Both with the historic agreement on Migration and Asylum on 20 December and with the initiative on legal migration we are creating for the first time the conditions for a European, coherent , organized and transparent migration policy”, he emphasized.

150,000,000 euros in Pieria from the NSRF

Referring to the prefecture of Pieria, the vice-president of the Commission said that it has received approximately 150 million euros in the period 2014-2020, in health, environment, culture, fisheries, employment, infrastructure.

Pieria is a place full of life, with significant development prospects. A place that is a hub in national networks, with entrepreneurship, commercial and craft activity, agricultural production with a significant contribution to the national granary and protected products, with fishing and aquaculture, with its historical and traditional wealth from Old Panteleimon to the much-sung castle of Platamonas and its unique natural wealth. A dynamic and complex tourist product 12 months a year. “In view of the significant resources and potential that we have foreseen for entrepreneurship, agri-food production, tourism development, for Central Macedonia and Pieria, I am confident that we have the arsenal to face any challenge. Pieria is an important hub for development of the region with an important contribution to the national perspective. Katerini, its metropolitan center, a city with dynamism and a distinctive mark in the productive structures of our homeland, as your own investment, your own work, the entrepreneurship and creativity of the local business community that has national protagonists”, underlined Mr. Schinas.