Recently, Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn completed his tour (24.10) of the 13 Greek regions which he began two years ago, with the regions of North Aegean and Western Macedonia. "This series of journeys, undertaken over 2 years across Greece has been extraordinarily inspiring. In October 2012, I decided to embark on this tour of the 13 regions after a meeting with the recently elected governors in Athens. At a time when all the talk was about austerity, I wanted to hear and see for myself what people were experiencing and how they thought EU Regional Policy could help their villages and cities to recover."

Presently, Greece is planning its next steps for the new EU Regional Policy (2014-2020). Within this period, the country is expected to receive €15 billion intended to fund 13 operational programmes, one for every region. During the previous time frame (2007-2013), Greece showed admirable results, absorbing 85% of its total allocated share of EU funds. Furthermore, in May, Greece became the 4th EU country to adopt a "Partnership Agreement" with the European Commission on using EU Structural and Investment Funds for growth and jobs in 2014-2020.