The European Parliament adopted during its plenary session in early October specific EU funding measures for Greece, with a view to facilitating the implementation of these funds by Greece in the liquidity crisis that it is experiencing.

The Committee on Regional Development (REGI) unexpectedly decided on October 15, for Greece and Greece only, to designate one of its members  as ‘Special Rapporteur’ to monitor the implementation of these specific measures, and therefore to indirectly supervise Greece.

GUE/NGL MEP Younous Omarjee, Vice-Chairman of the REGI Committee, denounced this decision in the strongest possible terms. For MEP Omarjee, this will result in integrating into cohesion policy the same spirit and logic that governs the control of the implementation of the “adjustment programmes” for Greece in the context of economic and budgetary surveillance.

For the Vice-Chair of the REGI Committee, it is incomprehensible that Greece should be blacklisted and supervised in this way. Greece has always used up its funds, and the difficulties it is currently facing are due to lack of liquidity arising from the implementation of political sanctions. Nothing can therefore justify this kind of treatment except a veiled determination to reserve special treatment for Greece.

He recalled that the general rules of control and monitoring for the implementation of funds for all European regions already existed in European regulations and that, in effect, this special treatment for Greece is shrouded in suspicion.

GUE/NGL Press Contact:

Gay Kavanagh +32 473 84 23 20

Nikki Sullings + 32 483 03 55 75