The agenda of the informal Meeting of EU Ministers responsible for Cohesion Policy, held today in Athens following an initiative by the Ministry of Development and Competitiveness and under the auspices of the Greek Presidency, included improving the competitiveness of the SMEs of the EU and, more specifically, facilitating their access to financing.

The Chief Executive Officer of the European Investment Fund, Mr. Pier Luigi Gilibert, the Senior Director of European Affairs of the Institute of International Finance (IIF), Mr. Jeffrey Anderson, and the Secretary-General of the European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (UEAPME), Mr. Peter Faross, presented their views on the subject.

Participants in the Meeting discussed the need to adapt the actions of the new NRSF (2014-2020) in order for them to meet the needs of SMEs and their individual characteristics (growth level, financial conditions in the region and country of establishment, etc.), as well as further utilisation of financial instruments that will facilitate the SME access to subsidies, loans, loan guarantees, etc.

As it is known, during the 2014-2020 period, funds for SMEs will double (from 70 billion euros during the 2007-2013 period to 140 billion euros) in order to strengthen growth and create new jobs.

Also stressed was the need to place emphasis on innovation in order to increase the productivity of SMEs, to encourage business partnerships at trans-national level so as to enable SMEs to expand to new markets and to strengthen human capital so that SMEs can gain access to high quality staff.

Within the framework of the meeting, the Commissioner for Regional Policy of the EC, Mr. Johannes Hahn, presented developments as regards the submission of PAs (Partnership Agreements, i.e. the new NSRF 2014-2020) and individual operational programmes by member states to the EC. According to relevant data, 27 of the 28 PAs have been submitted (NB: the Greek programme is among those that have already been submitted).

The agenda of the informal Meeting also included the issue of urban development, on the basis of the conclusions of the 'Cities of Tomorrow' conference held last February in Brussels. Given the fact that the majority of the population lives in urban areas both in Europe and worldwide and that over 50% of Cohesion Fund resources will be channeled to urban areas, the discussion focused on:

-Better orientation of funds in order to address the problems deriving from urban growth (e.g. environmental pollution, poverty, social exclusion).

-Better cooperation between the EU, national governments and local authorities in order to address urban problems.

-The prospect of formulating a European agenda on urban growth.

In his statements, the Minister of Development and Competitiveness, Kostis Hatzidakis, emphasized the following: "The Informal Cohesion Meeting coincides with the beginning of the new Programming Period 2014-2020 and with a period when the economies of the countries that suffered the most from the crisis are, to varying degrees, close to opening a fresh new chapter. The adoption of SME financing programmes that are adapted to the particularities of the economy of each country, particularly those that were adversely affected by the crisis, must be allowed. It would be unfair, more so today, to ignore the special problems faced by SMEs in these countries. Where required, we must be prepared to make the necessary changes to the manner in which the European rules on competition are applied so as to prevent further undermining of the position of enterprises in weaker countries, to support innovative and extroverted enterprises with adapted, flexible financing products and to safeguard the greatest possible efficiency of Community funds".