Turkey Unable to Recieve EU Grants

Lack of Expert Staff is no Excuse

Abdullah Caliskan, Supervisor from the CFCU informs bianet that Turkey has received 20% of the foreseen 1.1 bn grant. "Lack of experts cannot be an excuse" Caliskan criticizes the low productivity of public corporations. He says public institutions (PI) are provided with Project Making Aids, an opportunity to hire specialized people.

Projects should be in line with Turkey's catching up agenda with the EU and to ensure its compliance with the acquis to get a grant. They also have to be non-profit.

ISKUR at the Top

Among others, Employment Agency (ISKUR) manages to transfer the greatest amount of aid to the project managers with the 32 million Euros it granted to 190 projects out of 1500. The projects aim at increasing the possibility to be employed for those who are unemployed, unskilled or women by providing them with education.

Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SME) can also be granted by the EU as long as they produce "infrastructural projects to increase their competitiveness", Caliskan puts it.

PIs can hardly produce projects

However "structural drawbacks prevent PIs produce project" Asc. Prof. Firuz Yasamis, former undersecretary of the Ministry of Environment, elucidates the reasons of low productivity to bianet.

Yasamis emphasizes that it is the Consultancy Firms who should produce projects. "Whether the project is a non-profit one is not so important. The point is to hire expert staff with the possible minimum wage"he criticizes the "non-profit criterion" for the grants.

"I cannot see any noteworthy development despite all the good intentions and grants" Yasamis expresses his disappointment and claims that principal goal must be using the grants as efficient as possible. For him the amount received is not of importance.