Reclassification of the Municipality of Erymanthos as Mountain and Disadvantaged, 05-02-21

"Volunteer Group of Friends of Drosia" Drosia 20 January 2021
Tritaias Patron No. Prot.: 01
Contact: D. Dimitropoulos
Tel.: 2610-222406 mob.: 6972317548
& 2610-431109 mob.: 6936659740
E-mail: dimdimitropoulos161@gmail.com
& basdimitr@gmail.com – SITE: www.drosiatritaias.gr

Towards
Mr. Prime Minister, (Maximos Mansion),
& co-competent Ministries:

a) Minister of the Interior, Mr. Minister & Mr. A. Minister,
B) Rural Development & Food, Mr. Minister.

Notification:
a) Mr. President of the Republic
b) Mr. President of the Hellenic Parliament
c) Parties of the Greek Parliament
d) KEDE Mr. President
e) Decentralized Administration. Peloponnese & Ionian Islands, Mr. Coordinator.
f) Region of Western Greece, Regional Governor Mr. Nektarios Farmakis,
and Deputy Regional Governor Charalambos Bonanos
g) Municipality of Erymanthos, Mr. President of the Municipality. Council, Mr Mayor, Municipality. Factions
and Mr. President of the Local Community of Drosia.

Subject: Designation of the municipality of Erymanthos,
as "Mountain and Handicapped".

Prime Minister,
We congratulate you for the great and decisive effort you are currently making as the Government of our country to deal with the Pandemic, for the timely vaccination of our fellow citizens, in order to return very quickly to the pre-covid-19 era.

We as citizens are not intimidated by the lockdown that exists in our country to continue our occupations and voluntary actions for what concerns our historic village of Drosia Tritaia, and the Municipality of Erymanthos in general.

The issue that concerns us is the non-characterization of the Municipality of Erymanthos as "Mountain and Disadvantaged", an issue that has already been raised in 2011 by a letter from the former Mayor of the Municipality to the Ministries of Interior and Rural Development (21-06-2011). Attachment No. 01: The relevant letter.

Prime Minister,
The implementation of the "Kallikratis" plan for local government was a strategic choice with recognition of its institutional and leading role for the strengthening of Democracy, the better functioning of its secondary bodies, sustainable development, generally a very important event for the Administration of our country. The radical changes brought about by the Administrative Reform itself had the primary purpose of saving national resources, since out of the 1,034 former Municipalities after the merger only 370 were created. In other words, these resources would be managed better and targeted based on geographical and population criteria, and the new administrative bodies established would better serve each citizen.

On the basis of the above observations, has the objective of this administrative reform been achieved at the service of the urban citizen, the rural farmer, the resident of mountain municipalities?

Let's analyze some data about the Municipalities before and after "Kallikratis" in
Prefectures of Attica, Thessaloniki & Achaia.
A) Prefecture of Attica with an area of 3,808 sq.km.
Before Kallikratis it had 122 Municipalities-Communities. After the victory of Kallikratis has
65 municipalities, i.e. retained the former municipalities at a rate of 53.28%.
B) Prefecture of Thessaloniki with an area of 3,687 sq.km.
Before Kallikratis it had 43 Municipalities-Communities. After the victory of Kallikratis has
14 Municipalities, i.e. retained the former municipalities at a rate of 32.56%.
C) Prefecture of Achaia with an area of 3.272 sq.km.
Before Kallikratis it had 21 Municipalities-Communities. After the victory of Kallikratis has 5
Municipalities, i.e. retained the former municipalities at a rate of 23.80%.

From the above data, we observe that the Prefecture of Attica fully benefited from the change of "Kallikratis", while it retained more than 50% of its former Municipalities, while Achaia was miserably wronged (it retained less than 25%), taking into account that it has a slightly smaller geographical area. Here, therefore, it is not the case that with the implementation of the "Kallikratis" plan we had savings of National resources, as provided for in the Administrative Reform.

How many municipalities in the % of the country were classified as mountainous before "Kallikratis"?

According to ELSTAT data, the percentage of Municipalities classified as mountainous semi-mountainous was 61.6%, while the area they occupied throughout the country amounted to 71.3%, according to 1991 census data. According to EU data, the mountainous municipalities of our country amount to 77.9% with areas at a rate of 72%, so they are among the three most mountainous countries of the EU. The oxymoron is that after the administrative change with the "Kallikratis" program, the mountainousness of our country was magically erased, as the percentage of mountainous municipalities reaches with difficulty 9.5%.

The ordinary citizen asks: what happened to our mountains, did they magically go down and become lowlands? Could it be that the large and tall Erymanthos, famous since antiquity, no longer exists on the map of our country? The alteration of national statistics can be estimated into what magnitude of economic and national damage can be translated, when in addition to national resources, additional European funds that could be channeled to these municipalities are lost. Can such a large-scale Administrative Reform have brought so many negative economic data to the former Mountain Municipalities in need of support, when the Primary Sector for a country is a very important factor for its development and prosperity?

Attachment No. 02: The Letter of Protest from the "Metsovion Center for Interdisciplinary Research" of the National Technical University of Athens, for the negative impact of the "Kallikratis" Plan on the existing mountainous areas of our country, by Professor Dimitrios Kaliampakos sent in 2011 to the then Minister of Interior Mr. I. Ragousis, which letter had been signed by several Mayors of mountainous areas.

Was the Municipality of Erymanthos previously characterized as "Mountain and Disadvantaged"?

The answer is YES, because it has been classified since 1978. Based on the data we have received from the Ministry, the former and current designation of the Municipal Communities (i.e. before and after "Kallikratis") of the Municipality of Erymanthos for the mountainous areas has not changed. In other words, they retain more than 80% of their mountainousness from an administrative point of view. Attachment No. 03: the relevant table.

Did the new Bill on the changes of "Kallikratis", which was passed by the Plenary of the Parliament in April 2014 with Mr. G. Michelakis as Minister of Interior, correct the previous sins of the Program?

The answer is NO, on the contrary, we are now dealing with the issue again, even though the problem should have been known to everyone and resolved on the way.

What Does European Legislation Provide for on This Issue?
Directive 85/148/EEC amending Directive 81/645/EEC concerning the Community list of less-favoured farming areas within the meaning of Directive 75/268/EEC classifies 27 communities of the Municipality of Erymanthos as mountainous areas, out of a total of 33, i.e. 82%. Especially in many European States, Mountain Communities enjoy full protection, a fact that is easily verified by a visit of everyone to these Mountain Areas, where there is support for the sale of local products, aid for tourist exploitation, etc. Is it not a question of a Single Agricultural Policy in all EU States?

The question becomes: Do we want to be a modern European State where the citizens of our country will have equal access to the Investment Tools for their development, for the "Quality of Life", and not for the lowlands to be called lowlands, to enjoy many goods while the mountainous to live on another planet?

What is lost with the "MH" designation of the Municipality as Mountain and Disadvantaged: The loss of this designation means that the residents of these Mountain areas do not have access to the support programs they are entitled to under the Law. It means the decline and desertification of the mountainous settlements that have been preserved for so many years with the efforts of their inhabitants.

Attachment No. 04: The relevant Law 4071/2012 – Government Gazette A 85, Article 4: Mountain Municipalities, Responsibilities.

Has anyone recently dealt with the actual failure of the Kallikratis Programme?

The answer is YES because:
A) The former Mayor of Erymanthos sent a document dated 10-10-2018, no. Cfi. 6651, to the Minister of Rural Development & Food Mr. S. Arachovitis on the subject: "Delimitation of Less-Favoured Areas". Attachment No 05: the document concerned.
B) New letter from the new Mayor of the Municipality of Erymanthos dated 23-04-2020, no. Cfi. 2367, to the Minister of Interior, Mr. P. Theodorikakos, on the subject: "Request for the designation of the Municipality of Erymanthos as Mountainous". Attachment No. 06: the relevant document.
C) A question was submitted by the MP of Achaia, Mr. A. Tsigris on November 19, 2020 to the Minister of Interior. The answer given by the Deputy Minister of Interior Mr. Theodoros Livanios (which we learned from the local press, newspaper "Peloponnese", 12-12-2020), says that: The Municipality of Erymanthos can NOT be characterized as "Mountainous" in light of the current provisions, etc. It also states that the criteria for characterizing a Municipality may be reviewed in light of the reformulation of the legislative framework for the
operation of local authorities.

Attachment No. 07: the question by Mr Angelos Tsigris and

Attachment No. 08:, the issue of the newspaper "Peloponnese".

Here comes the new question:

After the Administrative Reform of the "Kallikratis" Plan, the country lost its mountains, the Mountain Communities were abolished, all the Rural inhabitants of those areas moved to lowland cities; We abolish the EUROPEAN LEGISLATION which provides with relevant provisions how a Municipality is classified as Mountainous? How many more years (ten have already passed) since the first administrative reform in order for this failure, this gross injustice for these municipalities to be corrected? Modern, EUROPEAN STATE should not only emphasize that we are, but also be in practice and take the appropriate legislative tools to resolve sins of the past.

Mr. Prime Minister, When mountainousness for a Municipality is not only geography but also Culture, a way of life in difficult conditions for some of our fellow human beings, When rural and mountainous areas need special care by the State for their equal development, and the Primary sector must be continuously subsidized not only with National funds, but also with European funds, When the inhabitants of these Mountain Communities continue to "Guard Thermopylae" for all other city dwellers, When the side effects of the "Kallikratis" plan must be resolved immediately,

We request, In the next Bill (which will concern T.A.) that will be submitted to the Plenary of the Parliament,
To submit a relevant amendment to reinstate the characterization as "Mountain and Disadvantaged" our Municipality, the Municipality of Erymanthos.

Pending the routing of our request,
We are,
Sincerely,
Members of the "Volunteer Group of Friends of Drosia" of Tritaia, Patras
Dimitrios Dimitropoulos (Pharmacist)

Vasilios Dimitropoulos (Teacher)
Leonidas Massaras (Engineer)
Georgia Nikolopoulou (Teacher)
Angeliki Bethava (Teacher)
Nikolaos Dimitropoulos (Pharmacist)

Postscript:

Prime Minister,
On the occasion of the celebration for the 200 years since our National Revolution, We invite you to honor us with your presence in our village, Drosia Tritaia, Patras (altitude 730), on the day we will organize in cooperation with our Municipality, the event entitled:
"Participation of the fighter "Giannias" (Hero of our village) in the struggle for our national Independence of '21", On the central square of our village, under the plane tree planted by "Giannias" himself 240 years ago.

You will be informed in good time about the date of the event which
we plan towards the end of July – beginning of August 2021.

Voluntary, Characterization of D. Erymanthou Mountain and Disadvantaged, 20-01-2021