The European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, recently announced the approval of 3 billion euros (4.1 billion dollars) in aid to Greece to assist in the construction of four major highways.
Due to severe debt crisis-related budget cuts, the construction of several highways has been stalled for many years. Johannes Hahn, the European Commissioner for Regional Policy, pointed out that this investment "focuses on the country's economic recovery" and anticipates that the highway construction projects could create 6,000 jobs. Among these, 1,700 positions will be long-term management-related jobs after the completion of the highway construction at the end of 2015.
Johannes Hahn stated that the highways are part of the pan-European road network and are essential for creating a single market for goods in Europe. Most of the new construction projects are located in the western part of mainland Greece and the southern region of the Peloponnese, connecting multiple cities to the country's road system.
The Greek government stated that these projects will fully restart in early 2014 and will greatly boost the economy that year. Many economic forecasters believe that after six years of severe recession, the Greek economy will return to growth in 2014.
