The Minister of the Interior, Theodoris Livaniosannounced an emergency subsidy for all of them municipalities of the country, totaling 140 million euros per week.
Mr. Livanios also mentioned that municipalities will receive in parallel 90 million euros for overdue debts and 20 million euros to cover court decisions.
In addition, an additional fifth installment will be granted for 2024 to cover the operational needs of schools.
The Minister of Interior also announced that the Code Commission of the Ministry of Interior for the reform of the Self-Government Code will be formed by Tuesday and its first meeting will take place before the KEDE conference.
For 2025, he said that Central Autonomous Resources (KAP) will increase by 53 million euros, an amount that will cover the increase in salary costs.
President of KEDE: Municipalities are still unable to cover operational costs
KEDE President Lazaros Kyrizoglou, for his part, focused on municipalities’ finances, noting that municipalities “still do not have the capacity to meet operating costs, as they have been deprived of statutory resources, have been burdened with exorbitant increases energy costs and the unfair imposition of the burial tax”.
He highlighted that KEDE raised the issue of municipalities’ finances as a government imperative, requesting the payment of an additional 450 million euros for 2024 and a courageous increase in the CAP in 2025, the return of funeral tax money, the return of legal funds to municipalities and the repeal of article 44 of Law 5000/2010, which establishes a maximum limit of 3,528 million euros for the CAP.
He underlined that KEDE hopes that the promise made at the meeting with the Prime Minister, of additional financial support worth around 250 million euros, will be implemented soon.
Referring to the issue of municipal employees, he requested the partial lifting of the suspension of recruitment in municipalities, recruitment of personnel especially in the municipal police, immediate continuation of the implementation and operation of the employment program for the unemployed 55-67.
Regarding the issue of drinking water management, the president of KEDE stated that the study proposal of KEDE-EDEA and EETAA was presented, which provides for the operation of a DEWA in each city hall and in the Board of Directors. of the new regime belongs 100% to the Local Government.
For energy, he highlighted the Local Government’s permanent position that municipalities must give priority to energy communities. “It is not possible, he said, that there is no space on the grid for the electricity that the municipalities will produce and that they cannot use that electricity to reduce their operating costs.”
In closing, Kyrizoglou emphasized that “everything that was raised in the pre-conference dialogue will be discussed, codified and will constitute the new assertive framework of Self-Government, the implementation of which we will pursue in a permanent and constant manner. And if all this is not done, we will change the “fiddle”, we will exert more pressure until the government and the political system take us into account. Because we are right in everything we ask for, the Constitution provides for this, they apply in Europe, they can be done here too.”
The problems facing municipalities are “terrifying”.
The chairman of the KEDE Islands and Political Cohesion Committee, Efstratios Charchalakis, mayor of Kythira, referred to the many and “terrifying”, as he described it, problems that municipalities face.
Charchalakis classified demography as the most important problem, citing the results of his research according to which from the 1951 census to the 2021 census, only 19 islands increased their population, including Crete, Rhodes, Corfu, Evia. On the contrary, on more than 100 islands inhabited in 1951, a decrease or even complete cancellation of the permanent population was observed.
Huge problems of overtourism
Referring to excess tourism, he emphasized that temporary overcrowding causes enormous problems in all municipalities that receive tourist arrivals.
“Which water supply and sewage networks, which roads, which LANDFILLS will be able to support the weight of this population load on the islands?” he wondered and added:
“A study of the support capacity of public infrastructures for all island municipalities is necessary, from which the necessary infrastructure projects will emerge to prevent excessive tourism and its inability to manage from destroying the natural, built and created by man that we are trying so hard to preserve.”
Targeted actions
The KEDE Tourism Development Committee’s proposals for specific actions that constitute an integrated tourism policy, contribute to sustainable development, respect the special character and cultural identity of societies and spread their benefits to as many people as possible were presented by the president of the KEDE Tourism Development Committee, Antonis Kambourakis.
In particular, the proposals concern:
- Participation and more substantial contribution of Municipalities in the National Tourism Development Plan and in the promotion of quality forms of tourism
- New modern road and maritime networks, communications, transport, water drainage networks, better waste management, should reinforce the competitiveness of the tourism product
- Increase resources for the improvement and modernization of all public infrastructures in all tourist areas, especially on islands, as well as the creation of new quality infrastructures, with the courageous support of the State to make the increase in GDP a reality of tourism.
- Transfer of the Resilience Fee to Municipalities.
- Recruitment of specialized personnel, equitable and quality training of tourism professionals in sustainable tourism practices.
- Direct involvement of municipalities in the promotion of tourist destinations, in promoting the brand’s local tourist advantage, in every corner of our country that has a unique tourist interest
- Electronic digitization of all services that can and should be available to guests.
- Accommodation for public health workers, military personnel, teachers, with affordable income, for twelve months. Sufficient to positively assist the provision of services and not prohibit rental residence.
Intense concern about the Middle East
The strong concern that the growing tension in the Middle East will result in an increase in flows of refugees and immigrants in the immediate future and that serious problems will immediately arise in their management and treatment was expressed by the president of the Council on Migration, Refugees and Committee of Crisis, Michalis Erotokritos, Mayor of Kasos, highlighting that arrivals have already increased to the islands of the North Aegean, Dodecanese, Crete and Gavdos.
In recent years, energy issues have acquired a high weight factor for Local Government, as municipalities are called upon to manage the increase in energy costs, the production of energy from renewable energy sources, the need to adapt to climate change, emphasized the president of the Energy and Environment Committee. , Eleftherios Raviolos mayor of Karystos.
Waste and its management have always been an integral part of the daily operation of Local Government. However, today municipalities are called upon to manage much more complex and difficult situations mainly due to the distorted situation, as it was formed in previous years, by the Central Services of the States, but also due to the methodical effort that is made periodically by the responsibilities of the Local Autonomous Government. ‘ To be removed and assigned to the competent Ministry of Environment and Energy, stressed the chairman of the Water Management and Circular Economy Commission K. Zervas.
Finally, regarding “Water” issues, Mr. Zervas, commenting on the decision of the Ministry of the Interior, which, under the pretext of dealing with water scarcity and without having drawn up and delivered any draft law to KEDE and EDEA , as promised, makes statements in favor of forced mergers of DEYA, which are contrary to the Constitution and the Laws that govern its operation, as well as the protection of its operational and property rights. He also highlighted that KEDE “presented a specific and operationally documented solution for DEYA, which the competent Ministry of Environment and Energy must consider with due attention”.