PaSoK: He takes to the streets to put pressure on the government –

Table of Contents

• 1 The background
• 2 Agenda, budget and actions everywhere
• 3 ‌**Considering the competing narratives surrounding the Island ⁣Decarbonization ‌Fund, what potential impact could PASOK’s scrutiny and activism have on the fund’s implementation and its effectiveness ‌in ‌addressing the decarbonization needs of Greek islands?**

The PASoK under the mandate of Nikos Androulakis is everywhere and monitors everything that happens at the level of society, as well as within the parliament. In just four days, Harilaou Trikoupi mobilized her forces and found herself on the street twice. One in the march of November 17 and another in the long march that took place on the occasion of the strike announced by the GSEE on November 20. At the same time, he is fighting all the battles in the Parliament for the labor issues that are coming, but also for institutional ones, as in the case of the cybersecurity bill brought by the Ministry of Digital Governance, which essentially “saws” as they say the responsibilities of the AADE

At the same time, they are monitoring the movements of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who today goes to Naxos to inaugurate the Island Decarbonization Fund. “This particular fund was created with the persistence shown by Nikos Androulakis during his term as a member of the European Parliament”, Harilaou Trikoupi reports and they emphasize that “the government presents as its own achievement something that has the seal and signature of the president of the Greek Orthodox Party of Greece”.

The background

Circles of the Ministry of Environment and Energy state that “Greece has secured a unique opportunity through the European ETS regulation, obtaining the possibility of allocating 25 million pollutant rights exclusively for the decarbonization of the Greek islands. These rights will be auctioned and the proceeds will be allocated directly to projects that will contribute to reducing the carbon footprint of our islands.”

However, in PASOK they stand by the fact that when in 2015 the Commission presented its proposal for the Emissions Trading System for the period 2021-2030, it provided for the creation of a new Modernization Fund. The specific fund would finance investments in the energy sector for countries that in 2013 had a GDP per capita lower than 60% of the European average. Greece in 2013 was just over 60% of the average, while in 2014 and 2015 it was at 59%. In other words, Greece was excluded for one year from the financing of a fund that would start operating in 2021.

A leading executive of Harilaou Trikoupi points out that “after a lot of effort and thanks to an amendment filed by N. Androulakis and it was co-signed by both New Democracy and SYRIZA MEPs and which was adopted by the Plenary of the European Parliament, this injustice was corrected. In particular, the base year was changed, adding 2014 and 2015 in order to have more objective economic criteria for the inclusion of countries in this fund. In this way, our country could benefit from European funding that would exceed 1 billion euros for projects such as the interconnection of mainland Greece with the Aegean islands and Crete, the modernization of the network, the expansion of renewable energy sources and the development of environmentally friendly technologies”.

While he also commented on what followed, characteristically stating that “there was no similar development in the Council of Ministers either. The decision there was not to change the base year in the new Modernization Fund, leaving Greece out. As a compensation, they decided to create a special financing mechanism, with stricter financing conditions specifically for us of 25 million rights, while limiting the eligible projects only to the Greek islands and their interconnection with mainland Greece. It is noted that the 25 million rights are about half of what we would be entitled to if we had participated normally in the Modernization Fund, as the European Parliament had proposed thanks to the Androulakis amendment. So the 25 million rights is not only not an achievement of the government, but is the result of the persistence of N. Androulakis”.

From PaSoK they raise another question on this specific issue and wonder why, while these rights were available to Greece already in 2021, for 3 years the government did nothing?

Agenda, budget and actions everywhere

At the same time, as close associates of the party president point out, PaSoK will continue to put its agenda in the public debate and fight for issues that concern the everyday life of citizens. A telling element of this effort is the event that will take place with the participation of the social partners GSEE, GSEVEE, SETE, SEVE and PaSoK will be in the same room to discuss.

As a high-ranking official of Harilaou Trikoupis with knowledge in labor matters told BIMA, “PaSoK makes the dialogue a reality. It is doing what New Democracy should have been doing for six years and has not done it. It calls on the social partners to participate in a process that will help the workers and at the same time create a new social contract” he said characteristically, stressing that “the next area of ​​conflict is the budget which does not respond to the collective needs of society. That is why the citizens are turning constantly against the new democracy as six years now it has not solved the problems they have in their daily lives”.