A delegation from Western Macedonia, led by Regional Governor Theodoros Karypidis, attended the 2nd Technical Meeting of the “Coal Regions in Transition Platform”, organised by the European Commission on 12 and 13 July 2018 in Brussels, aiming to support coal regions in their transition process as part of the implementation of European climate change policy.
Participating in the delegation were the Mayor of Kozani Eleftherios Ioannidis, the Mayor of Eordaia and President of the Network of Energy Municipalities Savvas Zamanidis, the Mayor of Florina and President of the Regional Union of Municipalities (PED) of Western Macedonia Giannis Voskopoulos, and the Mayor of Amyntaio Kostas Theodoridis. From the Project Team of the Region of Western Macedonia, attendees included the President of the Technical Chamber of Greece – Western Macedonia Section (TEE/TDM) and Director of the Regional Development Fund of Western Macedonia Dimitris Mavromatidis, ANKO’s Programmes Director Tasos Sidiropoulos, the Director of PED Western Macedonia Lefteris Topaloglou, Grade B Researcher of CERTH/CPERI Dionysis Giannakopoulos, and Specialist Technical Scientist of CERTH/CPERI Evangelos Karlopoulos.
Besides participating in the event presenting new transitioning Regions on the European Union Platform, two significant meetings took place which had been scheduled as part of the support for Western Macedonia, following up on the Technical Working Meeting held at the Ministry of Environment and Energy with Secretary General M. Verroiopoulos and the Director of the Directorate-General for Energy, Mr Klaus-Dieter Borchardt, on Wednesday, 4 July.
The first meeting took place on the afternoon of 11 July with the World Bank and the European Commission’s Structural Reform Support Service (SRSS), concerning the Technical Support of the Region of Western Macedonia, for which the sum of 500,000 euros has been approved by the European Commission. During the meeting, issues were raised regarding the specification of the Technical Support in relation to Western Macedonia’s transition needs. It is particularly significant that one of the leading global institutions will be supporting Western Macedonia in the necessary transition processes. It was decided to intensify talks at a technical level and for the World Bank to conduct an on-site visit to Western Macedonia over the coming three months.
The second working meeting took place on 12 July with executives of the European Commission’s Directorates-General, led by the Director of the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy, Mr Erich Unterwurzacher. During this meeting, Western Macedonia’s strategy for the transition processes was analysed, along with the framework of expected support actions on the part of the European Commission’s Directorates-General in detailing the projects and actions of the Region of Western Macedonia.
The Regional Governor of Western Macedonia and the Mayors of the Energy Municipalities decided to intensify actions in the immediate future, with extensive consultation among all stakeholders and citizens of Western Macedonia, as the transition is a matter that concerns the survival of Western Macedonia and affects everyone.