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With the
1994 launch of the second CSF package, amounting to Euro
15bn , Greece focused on a small number of big projects.
About half this amount was allocated to infrastructure modernisation.
But funding was still not enough to complete the two main
highways and the Rio-Antirio
bridge.
Greece expects to receive Euro 25.5bn in the third
Community Structural Fund (CSF) package due to be approved
in March 2000. About half will be spent on infrastructure,
allowing the completion of both highways and the bridge.
A new series of projects will be launched, including the
Ionian Highway, which would upgrade the Ioannina-Patras road
to international motorway standards. Other new projects include:
- Highway links with Greece's Balkan neighbours - Albania,
Bulgaria, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
- Two new highways in the Peloponnese
- Improvements to the railway network
- The construction of a commuter rail network for Attica
Funding will be disbursed between 2000 and 2006. This package
will be the last substantial EU funding for infrastructure
that Greece is likely to receive. Future packages will give
priority to the needs of new EU members from central and eastern
Europe once enlargement gets
underway.
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