Kyriakos Mitsotakis in KEDE: In recent years significant steps have been taken to support self-government

The Prime Minister met with the Executive Committee of the Central Association of Municipalities of Greece ( ) at Maximos Palace on Monday morning (16.9.24). According to information, during the Prime Minister’s meeting with representatives of KEDE, the financial situation of municipalities, ways of supporting them within the new European financial framework, the needs of municipal services to staff, the possibility of extending the IPPA programme for the employment of unemployed persons aged 55 years or older, as well as the modernisation of the provisions governing the operation of Local Government Organisations (OTA) through the forthcoming bill on the Code of Government . Also, the contribution of municipalities to the implementation of the Marietta Giannakos programme for the upgrading of school bathrooms, sports areas and for lodgings was discussed, as at the first stage, in cooperation with Local Government, a detailed record of the needs of the school units and the priorisation of projects should be discussed. Special reference was made to energy issues and recycling. In this context, progress has been made in the implementation of the Apollo programme, aimed at reducing the electricity costs of vulnerable citizens and TTAs through covering a significant part of their consumption with cheap green energy. At the same time, the importance of increasing the recycling rate as part of a holistic plan was highlighted. At the beginning of the debate, the Prime Minister made the following statement: “May I welcome you and the members of the Executive Committee of the CEDEA, as part of our regular meetings with the leadership of the Government. We have a target: To make a comprehensive overview of the open issues that we have before us, in the presence not only of the responsible minister but also of many joint ministers. I think you will also recognise that important steps have been taken in recent years in terms of government’s economic and institutional support for the Government. Obviously, we still have quite open issues ahead of us, which also concern the best institutional shielding of Self-Government, as part of the ambitious idea of a real multi-level governance, but also a number of other open issues which I see you have presented in this summary. But not to go too far, to give you the reason to make a brief introductory statement so that we can discuss after issues in greater detail.” ‘Specially important meeting’ The president of KEDE and the mayor of Ampelokipon-Menemeni, Lazarus Kirizoglu, for his part, said: “Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for responding immediately – immediately after the ICU, as you told us – to our request to meet. There is vital political time for the government’s term of office until the next election, as for us as self-government, for the self-government period in the current period, which ends after four years. Thus, at the beginning of this self-governing period, this meeting is particularly important in order to take significant and positive steps in our country, Greece, in government, to converge with European local government. Thank you for the invitation.”