The European Commission approved the Greek map for granting regional development aid between 2014 and 2020.

The decision is based on the new regional aid guidelines adopted by the Commission in June 2013, which set out the conditions under which member-states can grant state aid to businesses for regional development purposes.

The guidelines aim to foster growth and greater cohesion in the Single Market.

Commission Vice-President in charge of competition policy Joaquín Almunia said: “The Greek regional aid map supports the Commission’s cohesion policy and contributes to the objective of better targeted and more effective regional state aid. Greece will now be able to organise a smooth transition from the current regional aid system towards its regional development strategy for 2014-2020 for all its regions.”

According to the Commission, a regional aid map defines the regions of a member-state that is eligible for national regional investment aid under the EU state aid rules.

The map will be in force between 1 July 2014 and 31 December 2020. It also sets the maximum levels of aid that can be granted to regional investment projects carried out by large enterprises in the assisted areas. These vary between 10% and 25% of total investment costs, depending on the area concerned.

The new regional aid map for Greece will cover its entire territory and 100 percent of its population, since the country benefits from the European Stability Mechanism.