Measures to help crisis-hit countries to use much needed EU funds have been proposed today by the European Commission. The measures would help these Member States to tackle youth unemployment, to support small and medium sized business and to pay for key infrastructure projects. In the absence of this proposed measure, Cohesion Policy investments for growth could be lost because of a lack of time to spend the money or because of the difficulty of finding national and private co-finance in the current economic climate.

Press release: The Task Force has made steady progress in assisting the Greek authorities, in a spirit of solidarity, to help implement a wide range of reforms agreed in the context of the economic adjustment programme for Greece and to maximise the use of EU Structural Funds. The assistance provided by the Taskforce builds on the commitment of the Greek authorities to implement these reforms, which are necessary to rebuild an economy that is conducive to growth and job creation, as set out in the Memorandum of Understanding with Greece.