Budget: The Greek Presidency’s budget has been set at €50 million. This amount covers all costs, including the ministries’ extra spending and the staff’s temporary assignments to other posts, as well as expenses related to all events taking place in Greece. Our goal is for the actual cost to be significantly lower, thus making the Greek Presidency the most economical ever.

Sponsors: The Presidency has sought to establish an extended sponsorship programme, reaching out to an array of local, dynamic and extrovert companies.

Outsourcing: Outsourcing has been limited to the absolutely necessary functions that demand special expertise. The Presidency relies chiefly on the commitment and dedicated team-work of civil servants. Extra assignments of government staff to Greece’s Permanent Representation to the EU have been limited to the minimum - only 50 additional posts for the duration of the Greek Presidency. The Greek Presidency’s Office in Athens has recruited no more than 9 extra personnel, on a fixed 6-month contract, selected through open competition.

Venues: The great majority of events takes place in Athens and the Zappeion Conference and Exhibition Hall is the Presidency’s main venue. Zappeion is a public building, and its location in the historic centre of the city contributes to savings on set-up and transport costs. The Informal Meeting of Ministers for Foreign Affairs (Gymnich), which usually takes place at a different, to the main, venue, is to be held in Lagonissi, at the outskirts of Athens.     

Meetings: We sought to limit the number of meetings and events to those bearing actual added value. 14 Informal Ministerial meetings, 35 high-level officials meetings, 57 working groups and 33 conferences and seminars are scheduled to take place in Greece. 

Hotels: The Presidency pays for hotel accommodation only for Heads of Delegation +1 taking part in the Informal Ministerial meetings.

Save Paper: The “Who is Who” and Media Guides, the main Presidency Programme and other relevant documents are only available in downloadable form on the Presidency’s website. Moreover, only eco-friendly stationery (pens, pads, copy paper) and other products are offered.

Venues: As a listed building, Zappeion is considered inherently sustainable as its structure responds perfectly to Athens’ climate and site. It is naturally well lit and ventilated; however certain eco-friendly measures such as recycling bins, energy-efficient light bulbs and air quality bag filters are used.

Transport: The venues are within walking distance from the hotels and the city centre, thus dispensing with the need of transporting delegates. Whenever needed, delegates can profit from the extensive public transport network (metro, bus, tram, trolley). Cars are only provided for the ministerial meetings by our sponsor. 

Hotels: All hotels chosen for the accommodation of delegates follow eco-friendly policies. Many of them are also eco-label awarded hotels.

General

This is the official website of the Greek Presidency of the Council of the European Union. It is the main portal for media, presidency staff, diplomats, officials, European citizens and the public in general to access any kind of information and services available with regards to the Greek Presidency.
The site is run by the Secretariat General of Information and Communications / Secretariat General of Mass Media, under the supervision of the Greek Presidency Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The webteam consists of civil servants with expertise in communication and public diplomacy, highly skilled in webpage design and management as well as social media, who are responsible for managing, reviewing, updating, and publishing content as needed.
The technical development, support and maintenance of the site have been undertaken by the Institute of Communications and Computer Systems (ICCS), a non-profit academic research body associated with the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (SECE) of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA).
Beetroot design group is responsible for the creative graphic design of the site, the Greek Presidency’s logo and its visual identity in general. 

The site is hosted by the Greek Research and Technology Network (GRNET S.A.), the National Research and Education Network (NREN) provider which operates under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs and the General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT).
Acknowledgements
Special thanks should be extended to the Cyprus Presidency 2012 for its support and contribution, as it has offered valuable information on the structure of its own website. We would also like to thank the Greek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO) and the City of Athens for the material they have provided.

How to use

Our aim is to make it easy for you to find your way around and obtain the information you are looking for. We have thus identified and used best practices in website design and information structure, following the official guidelines of the EU and the architecture pattern of previous Presidency sites.
The site is regularly updated with the latest news, events and multimedia coverage concerning the Presidency’s activity in Greek, English and French, as well as in German (thanks to the contribution of the German Embassy in Greece).
You may sign up to our newsletter and RSS feeds, follow us on Twitter, access our photo and video galleries, watch live video streaming and customise the search engine according to your needs.

To navigate through the site use the following main menus:

• News

Search for and retrieve press releases, statements, multimedia coverage, features and the latest news with regards to any meetings/events/conferences that take place throughout the Presidency.

• Events

Find detailed information, by date and topic, on the meetings/events/conferences taking place during the Presidency. You may also download the official Calendar of the Presidency.

• The Presidency

Look for information on the priorities, the programme, the logo and the campaign of the Greek Presidency and download the “Who is Who” guide. General information on the European Union and the institution of the Presidency of the Council of the EU is also available.

• Greece

Get a collection of brief but comprehensive facts, data and figures on Greece’s main economic pillars, its culture and life. 

• Media

If you are a journalist or media representative, request accreditation, find information on the host broadcaster/photographer and the Press centre, use the news services and download the “Who is Who” and Media guides.

• Contacts

Access the list of contact persons from the Presidency’s Spokespersons, the Greek government and the Permanent Representation of Greece to the European Union.

Contact the webmaster
We have tried to make this site as friendly, useful and secure as possible. If you have any comments, or wish to suggest improvements or report deficiencies, please use the contact form at the bottom of each page.

Access to and use of this site is also subject to the following conditions:

• You accept the Terms & Conditions of Use, which take effect on the date of your first use of the site.
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reserves the right to change the Terms & Conditions of Use at any time.