World Report

Prokopis Pavlopoulos
Minister of the Interior, the Public Administration and Decentralisation

‘We must prioritise the areas with the biggest problems’

olitical and economic decision-making remains concentrated in the capital, Athens, which, together with Thessaloniki, is home to around half of Greece’s population of 11 million. The more sparsely inhabited areas such as the islands and peripheral parts of the country include six of the eleven poorest regions in Europe.

Costas Karamanlis’s New Democracy government is aiming for balanced growth across all the regions, according to Prokopis Pavlopoulos, Minister of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralisation. He adds, however: “In order to achieve this, we must first prioritise those with the biggest problems.”

The regions identified by the Minister as those with the greatest needs are Epirus, the Peloponnese and all the islands, especially those of the Aegean.

“These regions have priority and most of the ministry’s aid goes to them, specifically to the local communes operating there,” says Mr Pavlopoulos.

The government is trying to attract investment into the regions, particularly in the tourism sector. Efforts to achieve economic decentralisation will be assisted by the recent EU-backed infrastructure projects, and there are moves to create alternative sources of energy so that electricity can be produced locally on the islands where there is no possibility of a direct link to the national power grid.

The New Democracy government is more sympathetic than its predecessor to calls from the EU for decentralisation and acknowledges that devolution is the most effective way to provide for the special needs and aspirations of the regions.

Mr Pavlopoulos has announced that prefectural administrations are to be strengthened and regionalisation enhanced. An integral part of the move towards decentralisation will be the administration’s commitment to e-government through the introduction of the new information and communication technologies in public administration.