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EUROPEAN COMMISSION
STATEMENT
Brussels, 23 May 2014
Statements by Commissioners Hahn and Andor on the
Greek and Polish Partnership Agreements
Statement by Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for Regional Policy
We have very good news. We are now negotiating with all our 28 Member States,
Partnership Agreements which are the umbrella for all the different European Structural
Investment funds: The European Regional Development Fund, The Cohesion Fund, Social
Fund, Rural Development Fund and European Maritime and Fisheries Fund.
If you count everything together we are talking about an investment volume of 450 billion
euros for the period 2014-2020: This means putting Europe firmly on the path to
recovery.
The hard work is bearing fruit. I'd like to use the opportunity to thank my but all the other
Commissioner teams in the Commission services for the tough work they have done and
what they have managed to achieve in agreements by the end of this week.
Today we are happy to announce that after Denmark a couple of weeks ago, that
yesterday we could adopt the agreement for Germany and today also for Poland and
Greece. I think these are very exceptional cases.
Out of these 450 billion euros, we are talking about for 134 billion for the 3 countries
Germany, for Greece and Poland. This shows that we need to invest in all 28 Member
States and all the 274 regions in order to achieve our common European goals and
contribute to the further recovery of Europe.
Once more let me emphasise the main targets of the policy: It has shifted from
investments in infrastructure towards investments in the promotion of the economy, in
renewable energy, and energy efficiency. This of course should be accompanied by the
necessary qualification of people. We need well trained people, skilled people, experienced
people to meet the challenges we are facing around Europe.
In this respect we are happy to announce again that today we have made the deal with
Poland and Greece.
Poland is by far the biggest recipient of EU funds and certainly a showcase for others in
terms of using the money. Poland has decided with us, to multiply its efforts in promoting
the economy. In the outgoing period 4 billion euro have been spent for the promotion of
the economy, in the new period it will be 18 billion – and this accompanied by the
necessary qualifications.
I am sure this will strongly contribute to the further development of the country.
STATEMENT/14/168
With Greece I think we can be reassured after these negotiations that we - together with
the Greek representative - have laid the groundwork for a sustainable return to growth. I
think this is something we can be proud of. Greece has also understood the message that
we have to invest in the promotion of the economy, widen the scope of business activities,
also with investments in green energy.
All together just from the main EU structural funds we will contribute more than 15.5
billion euros to Greece, and this will have a great impact.
This is a huge opportunity for all EU Member States. And it's good to see how in some
cases we have been able to proceed in such a swift manner.
But it is also important to stress once again this is about quality not about speed. But if we
can combine quality AND speed, that's even better. And it seems that has been possible at
least for the countries where we adopted agreements today.
Statement by László Andor, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and
Inclusion
Like Johannes Hahn, I warmly welcome the adoption of Partnership Agreements with
Germany, Poland and Greece on how they will spend Structural and Investment Funds
from the EU over the next seven years. Together with Denmark, we now have four
Partnership Agreements adopted.
Germany, Poland and Greece are all important beneficiaries of the European Social Fund,
which supports investment in human capital. Over the next seven years, Germany can
draw down nearly € 7.5 billion, Poland over € 13 billion and Greece nearly € 4 billion from
the ESF.
This reminds us that also economically more developed countries, like Germany, have
important challenges in the employment and social fields, which the European Social Fund
helps them to address. The reformed cohesion policy is geared towards the targets of the
Europe 2020 Strategy, and Germany can certainly make a good use of ESF funding to:
 increase the employment rate of women and older workers;
 strengthen human capital through lifelong learning; and
 support social inclusion and reduce poverty among vulnerable groups, including
people coming from other countries.
Poland will be the biggest beneficiary of the European Social Fund in 2014-2020, with an
allocation of over 13 billion euros.
The European Social Fund will continue to play a critical role in helping the Polish economy
to achieve higher levels of labour productivity and innovation, and to become more
inclusive.
During the last seven years, the ESF helped almost one million unemployed people in
Poland to get back into the labour market, and many others to follow training or start their
own businesses.
In the next seven years, the ESF will again focus on boosting the employment rate and
increasing productivity. Special efforts will be made to address those most in need of
support, especially young people, women and older workers.
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European Social Fund investments in Poland will bring direct and concrete benefits for
citizens:
 The ESF will help jobseekers to acquire the skills and qualifications that employers
are looking for.
 It will help small and medium-sized companies to adapt to new challenges by
investing in people.
 The ESF will also help to modernise vocational education and training, focusing on
concrete projects that enhance cooperation between schools and companies.
 And investments in health care will further develop the strength of the workforce and
improve living conditions in Poland.
Poland will also significantly benefit from the Youth Employment Initiative (we speak about
an additional €250 million), to support the implementation of the Youth Guarantee,
particularly in regions with youth unemployment rates above 25%.
I would also like to highlight that for the first time, the Partnership Agreement with Poland
includes targets on poverty reduction and increased employment for individual regions.
Progress towards these targets will be monitored and measured both at national and
regional level, in order to continuously help to optimise ESF investments.
Let me now move to Greece, where the total amount for the ESF will be nearly 3.7 billion
euros, and on top of this, Greece will also benefit from over 170 million euros from the
Youth Employment Initiative. This funding will make it possible to offer quality offers to
young people not in education, employment or training (the so called 'NEETs'), in line with
the EU Youth Guarantee.
Together with making the educational system more efficient, the ESF will focus in Greece
on creating jobs and promoting entrepreneurship. In this context, it is crucially important
to continue efforts to strengthen the capacity and improve the performance of the Greek
Public Employment Service (OAED), so that it can actively link up job-seekers and
employers and help arrange individual trainings.
The ESF will also help to continue the modernisation of the Greek public administration, in
conjunction with the provisions of the Economic Adjustment Programme for Greece.
Last but not least, the ESF will help fight poverty and support social inclusion of the most
vulnerable groups.
Greece has decided that social inclusion and poverty reduction projects should be newly
managed at the regional level. We support this, and we welcome also the intention of the
Greek Government to develop by the end of 2014 an integrated national social inclusion
and anti-poverty strategy, to form the basis for the regional actions.
Following the adoption of the Partnership Agreements, we now expect to receive the
Operational Programmes with more detailed description of the planned investments.
In order to maximise the impact of EU money, the Operational Programmes should be
drafted in close cooperation with national, regional and local authorities, and in
partnership with trade unions, employers, non-governmental organisations and other
relevant stakeholders.
And I'm also looking forward to signing the rest of the Partnership Agreements with the
other Member States, to ensure that the ESF funding is put to good use and to keep
investing in Europe's people.
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Contacts :
Shirin Wheeler (+32 2 296 65 65)
Annemarie Huber (+32 2 299 33 10)
Jonathan Todd (+32 2 299 41 07)
Cécile Dubois (+32 2 295 18 83)
For the public: Europe Direct by phone 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 or by e-mail
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