Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace

The Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace (Greek: Αποκεντρωμένη Διοίκηση Μακεδονίας–Θράκης) is one of the seven decentralized administrations of Greece, consisting of the peripheries of Central Macedonia and Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. The region is centered in the metropolitan city of Thessaloniki in Central Macedonia.

Decentralized Administration
of Macedonia and Thrace
Αποκεντρωμένη Διοίκηση
Μακεδονίας–Θράκης
Agency overview
Formed1 January 2011 (2011-01-01)
JurisdictionGovernment of Greece
HeadquartersThessaloniki, Central Macedonia
Agency executive
  • Acting Secretary-General
Websitewww.damt.gov.gr
Map
Location of Macedonia and Thrace in Greece
Area served
Supervised regionsCentral Macedonia,
Eastern Macedonia and Thrace
Regional units13
Municipalities60
Area32,968 km2 (12,729 sq mi)[1]
Population2,490,290 (as of 2011)[2]

Formation and tasks
Main article: Decentralized administrations of Greece

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 60 municipalities of Central Macedonia and of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, and the two regions themselves.

Characteristics

Covering an area of 32,968 km2 (12,729 sq mi)[1] Macedonia and Thrace is the largest of the seven decentralized administrations by area, and with an overall population of 2,490,290[2] it is also the second most populated one, following the Decentralized Administration of Attica.

In the revised European NUTS nomenclature, the two regions of Macedonia and Thrace together with the two regions of the Decentralized Administration of Epirus and Western Macedonia form the first level NUTS region EL5 (Voreia 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]

List of Secretaries-General

Since its establishment in 2011, the following General Secretaries have been appointed:[8]

  • Efthimios Sokos, January 2011 – August 2012
  • Athanasios Karountzos (PASOK), August 2012 – February 2015

References
  1. Ministry of Interior 2013, p. 12
  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. Διατελέσαντες Γενικοί Γραμματείς [Former General Secretaries]. Retrieved 3 April 2015.

Literature
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