Decentralized Administration of Peloponnese, Western Greece and the Ionian

Decentralized Administration
of Peloponnese, Western Greece and the Ionian
Αποκεντρωμένη Διοίκηση
Πελοποννήσου, Δυτικής Ελλάδας και Ιονίου
Agency overview
Formed 1 January 2011 (2011-01-01)
Jurisdiction Government of Greece
Headquarters Patras, Western Greece
Agency executive
  • Dionysios Panagiotopoulos, Acting Secretary-General
Website www.apd-depin.gov.gr
Map
Location of Peloponnese, Western Greece and the Ionian in Greece
Area served
Supervised regions Peloponnese,
Western Greece,
Ionian Islands
Regional units 13
Municipalities 52
Area 28,847 km2 (11,138 sq mi)[1]
Population 1,465,554 (as of 2011)[2]

The Decentralized Administration of Peloponnese, Western Greece and the Ionian (Greek: Αποκεντρωμένη Διοίκηση Πελοποννήσου, Δυτικής Ελλάδας και Ιονίου) is one of the seven decentralized administrations of Greece, consisting of the regions of Peloponnese, Western Greece and the Ionian Islands. Its seat is in Patras, Western Greece, and it is currently headed by Acting Secretary-General Dionysios Panagiotopoulos.

Formation and tasks

Decentralized Administrations were created in January 2011 as part of a far-reaching reform of the country's administrative structure, the Kallikratis reform (Law 3852/2010).[3]

They enjoy both administrative and financial autonomy[1] and exercise devolved state powers in urban planning, environmental and energy policy, forestry, migration and citizenship.[4] Beyond that, they are tasked with supervising the first and second-level self-governing bodies: the municipalities and regions, in this case the 52 municipalities of Peloponnese, Western Greece and the Ionian Islands, and the three regions themselves.

Characteristics

Covering an area of 28,847 km2 (11,138 sq mi)[1] with an overall population of 1,465,554[2] Peloponnese, Western Greece and the Ionian is the third largest of the seven decentralized administrations both in area and population, and it is the only one that covers three Regions.

In the revised European NUTS nomenclature, the regions of Peloponnese, Western Greece and the Ionian together with the two regions of the Decentralized Administration of Thessaly and Central Greece form the first level NUTS region EL6 (Kentriki Ellada).

Secretary-General

The Decentralized Administration is led by a Secretary-General (Γενικός Γραμματέας) who is appointed or dismissed by a Cabinet decision upon request of the Greek Minister of Interior,[5] and is therefore considered the senior representative of the national government in the regions.

Following the electoral victory of Syriza in January 2015, the new Minister for the Interior, Nikos Voutsis, declared that the decentralized administrations would be abolished, and their powers transferred to the regions. Until this reform is formalized, and as the Secretaries-General appointed by the previous administration resigned on 2 February, the decentralized administrations are run by their senior civil servants as Acting Secretaries-General.[6][7]

Current Acting Secretary-General is Dionysios Panagiotopoulos.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ministry of Interior 2013, p. 12
  2. 1 2 "Demographic and social characteristics of the Resident Population of Greece according to the 2011 Population - Housing Census revision of 20/3/2014" (PDF). Hellenic Statistical Authority. 12 September 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-08.
  3. ↑ Ministry of Interior 2013, p. 10 f..
  4. ↑ Ministry of Interior 2013, p. 27.
  5. ↑ Ministry of Interior 2013, p. 19.
  6. ↑ Tania Georgiopoulou (5 February 2015). Κατάργηση Αποκεντρωμένων Διοικήσεων (in Greek). Kathimerini. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  7. ↑ Ο Βούτσης «καταργεί» τις Αποκεντρωμένες Διοικήσεις – Κίνηση-ματ υπέρ των αιρετών Περιφερειών (in Greek). aftodioikisi.gr. 3 February 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  8. ↑ Ο Γενικός Γραμματέας της Αποκεντρωμένης Διοίκησης Πελοποννήσου-Δυτικής Ελλάδας-Ιονίου [General Secretary of the Decentralized Administration of Peloponnese, Western Greece and the Ionian]. Retrieved 3 April 2015.

Literature

  • Ministry of Interior (January 2013). "Structure and operation of local and regional democracy". Council of Europe.
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