Pillar 03

Build. Own. Stay.

The money already flows through Greek regions. What does not yet flow is ownership. AURIO will build the cooperatives, redirect the public spend, and finance the regional circulation that turns producers into owners. Not extraction. Ownership.

Inspired by E.F. Schumacher, Jessica Gordon Nembhard & Kate Raworth

Press Q T C P M W E to jump to a section. B to go back.

Keyboard shortcuts on this page: Q jumps to The Problem, T to The Thinking, C to The Proof, P to The Proposals, M to Where the Money Comes From, W to What Changes for You, E to Go Deeper, and B returns to the Programme index.

The Problem

Every euro spent locally circulates up to four times. Most public money leaves for Athens.

2 to 4x More jobs per euro spent locally (NEF LM3, ILSR)
€5.2bn RRF SME support already allocated
70,085 Worker owners in Mondragon cooperatives (2024)
6.3% Social economy share of EU-27 employment (2021, EURICSE/CIRIEC/European Commission)
The Thinking

Who argued this, and why it holds.

E.F. Schumacher, Jessica Gordon Nembhard & Kate Raworth

Small is beautiful. Ownership is survival. Inside the doughnut.

E. F. Schumacher argued that economic activity has an appropriate scale and that economics must serve people, not the other way around. Local ownership, appropriate technology, and human scale enterprise produce more resilient and more equitable outcomes than centralised extractive models. Schumacher is the why of Pillar 03: production from local resources for local needs under local control is the most rational form of economic life, not a romantic exception to it.

Jessica Gordon Nembhard, in Collective Courage (2014), documented one hundred and fifty years of African American cooperative economics from the Underground Railroad mutual aid societies through the Federation of Southern Cooperatives. Her argument is that cooperative ownership is not a lifestyle choice for the already secure. It is a survival strategy for communities that have been historically extracted from. Gordon Nembhard is the who of Pillar 03: ownership is the difference between receiving a compensation payment and accumulating a surplus. Greek border and peripheral regions, historically extracted by Athens, by Brussels and by outside energy capital, are exactly the kind of communities her research is about.

Kate Raworth, in Doughnut Economics (2017) and the Amsterdam City Doughnut (2020), located local economic development inside two boundaries: the ecological ceiling of planetary limits and the social foundation of human needs. Raworth is the within what limits of Pillar 03: a local economy that meets its social foundation while staying within the ecological ceiling is not a compromise, it is the only form of economic development that does not eventually destroy the conditions for its own continuation.

Together these three thinkers give Pillar 03 its architecture. Schumacher provides the moral foundation. Gordon Nembhard provides the ownership argument. Raworth provides the systems frame. Mondragon, Emilia Romagna, Preston, Cleveland Evergreen, and Aisymi are where the architecture meets the ground.

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.

E. F. Schumacher
The Proof

This is not theory. It runs somewhere today.

€558,000 Aisymi receives as a compensation rebate for 2021 to 2022
vs
Ownership The surplus of a locally owned generation asset

Compensation is a share of someone else's revenue. Ownership is the whole surplus. The Aisymi template converts the first into the second.

The Proposals

What we will do. Concretely.

Ownership Local and democratic

Anchor Procurement Programme

Audit six anchor institutions (Alexandroupolis municipality, Democritus University of Thrace, Evros General Hospital, the regional court, the regional police, and disclosable military installation procurement). Set a binding target of 20 percent local cooperative sourced procurement by 2031, building to this target on 10 percent in 2029 and 15 percent in 2030 against a 2028 baseline. Modelled on Preston, audited through the Diavgeia API.

What we'll do
  • Baseline procurement audit commissioned in year one using the Diavgeia API and KIMDIS notices
  • Audit results published in full on Diavgeia
  • Annual public reporting to Alexandroupolis municipal council
  • Citizens' audit panel, appointed by sortition per the Pillar 04 standalone, reviews each annual report and publishes a compliance summary on Diavgeia
  • Enforcement sequence applied: transparency on Diavgeia, citizens' audit panel review, municipal council corrective action plan if any anchor falls short for two consecutive years, escalation to the Hellenic Court of Audit (Elegktiko Synedrio) under Law 4129/2013 Article 3 for systemic non compliance
  • First wave anchor procurement pilots open in five regional capitals: Alexandroupolis (the 2028 mayoral vehicle), Kalamata (Kalamáta) in Messinia, Volos (Vólos) in Thessaly with the recovery profile after the Daniel storm of September 2023, Ioannina (Ioánnina) in Epirus, and Heraklion (Iráklio) in Crete. Sixth and seventh sites selected by open call published on Diavgeia, with three criteria: ELSTAT 2024 unemployment rate, count of active KoinSEp under Law 4430/2016, and a municipal council majority resolution requesting inclusion. Precedent: Emilia Romagna's Legge regionale 6/2006 staged regional cooperative rollout
Outcome

20 percent local cooperative sourced procurement across six Evros anchor institutions by 2031, measured against the 2028 baseline. First wave anchor pilots open in five regional capitals; sixth and seventh selected by open call. Anchors that miss the target trigger the corrective plan and Court of Audit review chain.

Funded by

Envelope A Technical Assistance. Approx. €150,000 to €200,000 for baseline audit.

Cooperative development and ring fence in RRF grants

Ring fence 15 percent of the €1.61 billion RRF SME grant component, equal to €241.5 million, for cooperative forms with at least five worker members and majority regional ownership. Provide technical assistance, seed funding, and mentorship for new cooperatives through a regional delivery partner modelled on Mondragon's Caja Laboral and Preston's North West Mutual. Spain's 2022 RRF reprogramming under Regulation (EU) 2021/241 shifted funds between SME support sub windows without changing the national ceiling, and stands as the operational precedent that sectoral reallocations are permitted within an existing RRF plan. The Greek route is the same: no new money, no higher ceiling, a binding 15 per cent reservation legislated in the 2027 cycle.

What we'll do
  • Legislative proposal published and submitted to parliamentary groups before the 2027 election
  • Dedicated application stream with simplified reporting adapted to cooperative governance
  • Specialist assessment panel including KoinSEp representatives, PASEGES, and an independent academic
  • All decisions published on Diavgeia within five days of issue
Outcome

€241.5 million of RRF SME grant funding ring fenced for cooperative forms, with midpoint independent evaluation.

Funded by

Envelope D redistribution. No additional public funding. €241.5M total over the RRF horizon, ~€48M per year at five year smoothing.

Cooperative Business Register and Matchmaker

A regional digital register of Evros cooperatives, KoinSEps, and cooperative eligible SMEs, matched against anchor institution procurement categories. The matchmaker connects demand with supply. Funded under Interreg VI-A Greece Bulgaria technical assistance.

What we'll do
  • Platform development contracted under Interreg VI-A in year one
  • Initial data population from KALO, PASEGES, and Diavgeia entity data
  • Quarterly updates, with two way matching on procurement categories
  • Steering committee including anchor procurement officers, cooperative representatives, and one citizen seat by sortition
Outcome

Live regional register connecting anchor institution procurement demand to local cooperative supply, accessible to all six anchor procurement teams.

Funded by

Envelope B. Approx. €150,000 to €200,000 for three year delivery.

Worker succession buyout

Extend the Marcora mechanism (redundancy buyouts) to owner exit and succession. When a Greek SME is offered for sale, marked for closure on owner retirement, or placed in a pre-pack rehabilitation procedure under Law 4738/2020 with transfer of business under Article 64, existing employees acquire a legally defined right of first consideration to present a viable worker cooperative bid, with state match funding on the same 1:1 terms. The AURIO term is worker succession buyout. Italian parallel: Legacoop cooperative di successione. Legal base: Law 4430/2016, Law 4172/2013 tax amendments, and an amendment to Law 4601/2019 on corporate transformations.

What we'll do
  • Parliamentary proposal with model statute published in 2027
  • Institutional host designated (ETEAN or the Regional Cooperative Bank once operational)
  • Due diligence and viability assessment completed within 30 days of a formal worker proposal
  • Five year monitoring with annual accounts on Diavgeia
Outcome

First Greek worker succession buyout completed under the extended Marcora mechanism by 2030.

Funded by

Envelope C. Approx. €10M to €15M per year of state match funding from year two.

Procurement conditions on labour standards and tax compliance

Every tender under the anchor procurement programme carries performance conditions on labour standards and tax compliance as award criteria, using the social value clauses already permitted under Law 4412/2016 Articles 18, 86, and 131. Suppliers must pay at or above the Greek minimum wage, comply in full with social security contributions, be current on tax obligations, provide written contracts compliant with Law 4808/2021, and declare any zero hour arrangements with justification. No internship that runs longer than one month and performs productive work may remain unpaid under an anchor institution contract. All productive internships beyond thirty days are paid at no less than the Greek minimum wage pro rata to actual hours worked, with full EFKA contributions paid by the supplier and a written internship contract under Law 4808/2021. The standards are those of Greek labour and tax law. The innovation is enforcement through procurement. Precedent: the Preston Real Living Wage uplift from 76 percent in 2015 to 88 percent by 2022. The wage floor is one rung in a three tier income floor that ties Pillar 03 to Pillar 12: the KEA minimum guaranteed income floor under Law 4520/2018 administered by OPEKA; the Greek statutory minimum wage under Law 4093/2012 as in force; and a living wage tier required of suppliers on public contracts above EUR 2 million. The cross link is explicit so that one pillar does not undercut the other. Precedent: Portugal's Salário Mínimo and Rendimento Social de Inserção articulation (2023).

What we'll do
  • Model award criteria drafted for Alexandroupolis municipal procurement in year one
  • AADE tax clearance and EFKA social security contribution clearance required as award conditions, verified through the existing AADE and EFKA digital interfaces before contract signature
  • Minimum wage, social security, and tax compliance declarations required at tender stage
  • Zero hour arrangement disclosure required with written justification
  • Anti unpaid productive internship clause: any internship beyond thirty days that performs productive work is paid at no less than the Greek minimum wage pro rata to hours worked, with full EFKA contributions paid by the supplier. Breach triggers the Proposal 1 corrective action chain
  • Compliance audited by the citizens' audit panel established under Proposal 1, with escalation to the Hellenic Court of Audit (Elegktiko Synedrio) under Law 4129/2013 Article 3 for systemic breach
Outcome

Every anchor procurement tender carries enforceable labour and tax compliance conditions by 2029, verified at award stage by AADE and EFKA, audited annually by the citizens' panel, and policed at last resort by the Court of Audit.

Funded by

No new money. Existing procurement budgets, implemented through award criteria.

Legal reform Unlock what the law already permits

Issue the Article 20 implementing decree

Law 4412/2016 Article 20 already permits reserved contracts for social cooperative enterprises. The implementing presidential decree has not been issued, so the permission remains voluntary. AURIO proposes the decree, converting the permission into a mandatory minimum quota scaled by contracting authority size. This is the single highest leverage piece of legal reform in the pillar. Administrative capacity precedes the reform: before the priority access for social and cooperative enterprises (KoinSEp, Law 4430/2016) operates, throughput at the Hellenic Single Public Procurement Authority (EAADHSY) and the National Electronic Public Procurement System (ESIDIS) is reinforced. AURIO commits to the recruitment of 120 contract auditors at EAADHSY and ESIDIS over three years and to a 72 hour Diavgeia publication ceiling from contract signature. Precedent: Italy's Consip 2020 throughput uplift; Spain's Plataforma de Contratación 2019.

What we'll do
  • Full decree text drafted and submitted to the Ministry of Labour for formal consultation in 2027
  • Minimum quotas scaled by contracting authority size: 5 percent above €50m, 10 percent above €100m, 15 percent above €500m annual procurement
  • Three year grace period for supplier development before quotas become binding
  • Recruitment of 120 contract auditors at EAADHSY and ESIDIS over three years; 72 hour Diavgeia publication ceiling from contract signature, on the Italian Consip 2020 and Spanish Plataforma de Contratación 2019 throughput precedents
  • AURIO 2027 parliamentary commitment to issue within the first six months of any government in which the party participates
Outcome

Presidential decree issued. Article 20 converted from voluntary permission to binding minimum quotas, activating hundreds of millions of euro of cooperative reserved procurement across Greek contracting authorities.

Funded by

No new money. Parliamentary drafting only. The decree redirects existing procurement budgets.

Cooperative education in schools

A curriculum module on cooperative enterprise, local multiplier economics, and complementary currencies, for gymnasium class 3 and lyceum class 2. Submitted to the Ministry of Education Curriculum Design Institute (IEP). Pilot tested through the AURIO Thinking School before formal IEP submission.

What we'll do
  • Ten session module developed with teachers' handbook
  • AURIO Thinking School generates student work as evidence of educational value
  • Formal submission to the Ministry of Education Curriculum Design Institute (IEP) for the 2028 curriculum review
  • National rollout after IEP approval, no marginal cost per school
Outcome

Cooperative enterprise, local multiplier, and complementary currencies integrated into the gymnasium class 3 and lyceum class 2 economics syllabus.

Funded by

Envelope G. Approx. €30,000 to €50,000 for module and handbook.

Circulation Keep the surplus in Evros

Complementary credit circuit

A B2B mutual credit circuit for Alexandroupolis SMEs modelled on Sardex in Sardinia and WIR in Switzerland. Not a paper currency, not a cryptocurrency, an accounting system. Non convertible. Members commit to accept at least 30 percent of payment in credit units on transactions inside the network, the WIR rule that prevents the pooling failure that closed the Bristol Pound. Target 200 businesses in the first two years. Does not require Bank of Greece authorisation.

What we'll do
  • Governing cooperative registered under Law 1667/1986 with one member one vote
  • Mandatory 30 percent acceptance quota enforced as a condition of membership
  • Strict non convertibility: credits spend only inside the network
  • Transaction fee of 0.5 to 1 percent funds administration from year two
Outcome

200 founding businesses trading non convertibly within two years of launch, with self financing operation from year two.

Funded by

Envelope C plus Alexandroupolis municipal seed funding. Startup cost €80,000 to €120,000.

Regional Cooperative Bank

Feasibility study in year one, licence application by year three, operational by year five. Modelled on Mondragon's Caja Laboral and Preston's North West Mutual. Finances worker succession buyouts, new cooperative formation, anchor procurement supplier invoicing, and community energy projects. Legal base: Law 4261/2014 on credit institutions and Law 1667/1986 on cooperative form.

What we'll do
  • Feasibility study commissioned in year two under InvestEU Technical Assistance
  • Founding coalition of at least 50 cooperatives and KoinSEps across the region
  • Bank of Greece licence application submitted in year three
  • Lending exclusively to cooperative enterprises and KoinSEps, with cooperative specific credit assessment
Outcome

Regional cooperative bank operational by year five, with InvestEU backed lending capacity financing worker buyouts, new cooperatives, and community energy projects.

Funded by

Envelopes E and C plus founding member share capital. €50M to €100M guarantee facility, ~€5M per year of cooperative-secured lending capacity at full operation.

Local economic impact assessment

Required for all major procurement and development decisions. Uses the NEF LM3 methodology to measure how much of each euro of spending recirculates locally. Published on Diavgeia. Integrated with the anchor procurement programme.

What we'll do
  • NEF LM3 methodology adopted as municipal standard
  • Assessment required for any procurement above a defined threshold and any major development consent
  • Results published on Diavgeia alongside the procurement decision
  • Integrated with the anchor procurement annual report
Outcome

Every major Alexandroupolis municipal decision carries a published local multiplier assessment, making the extraction choice visible in numbers.

Funded by

Folded into procurement administration. No new money.

Production and materials Appropriate technology inside the ceiling

Maker spaces and Fab Lab network

A three lab network on the Fab Foundation standard specification: an Alexandroupolis lab co hosted with Democritus University of Thrace on the Fab Lab Athens model; an Orestiada lab serving the border agricultural economy; and a rural lab in Aisymi co located with the community energy cooperative. Capital cost approximately USD 120,000 per lab excluding premises, installation, and training, per the Fab Foundation inventory. Alexandroupolis becomes the first Greek signatory to the Fab City pledge in 2028, joining a network that comprised 54 cities and regions as of early 2025. Funded through Interreg VI-A, LEADER for the rural lab, and Creative Europe for programming.

What we'll do
  • Alexandroupolis lab opened with Democritus University of Thrace as host anchor
  • Orestiada lab serving the border agricultural economy
  • Aisymi rural lab co located with the community energy cooperative
  • Alexandroupolis signs the Fab City pledge in 2028 as the first Greek city in the network
Outcome

Three lab Evros Fab Lab network operational by 2029. Alexandroupolis first Greek Fab City signatory.

Funded by

Envelopes B and F plus Creative Europe programming. Approx. €340,000 capital for the three lab network.

Waste as resource, a zero waste programme

Adopt the Capannori zero waste model for Alexandroupolis and the rural Evros municipalities, with a binding separate collection target of 65 percent by 2032, three years ahead of the EU 2035 target. Greece currently recycles 17 percent of municipal waste, composts 1 percent, and landfills approximately 80 percent, per the European Environment Agency 2025 country factsheet. Capannori reached over 80 percent separate collection by 2010, cut per capita waste from 1.92 kg to 1.40 kg per day, saved over 2 million euro in 2009, reduced tariffs by 20 percent, and added 50 jobs at its municipal waste company. ILSR jobs per tonne analysis shows reuse is nearly 200 times more job intensive than landfilling. Programme funded through LEADER, LIFE, Just Transition Fund, and the East Macedonia and Thrace regional operational programme.

What we'll do
  • Door to door separate collection rolled out on the Capannori model: Alexandroupolis city centre 2027, wider municipality 2029, remaining Evros municipalities 2032
  • One repair café per Evros municipality, co located with the maker space network where practicable
  • Reuse warehouse in Alexandroupolis for bulky waste collection, assessment, and resale
  • Municipal composting facility for Alexandroupolis plus village composting cooperatives for the rural cluster
Outcome

65 percent separate collection by 2032, three years ahead of the EU 2035 target. Landfill reduced, jobs multiplied, material circulated inside Evros.

Funded by

Envelopes F, H and A. Total public investment €8M to €12M 2026 to 2032, ~€1.5M per year smoothed.

From compensation to ownership From compensation to ownership

Ownership and the local multiplier

Aisymi, the founding village of AURIO, already receives 558,000 euro in consumer benefit fee payments for 2021 to 2022 from the wind farms on its ridges, the second highest community payment in Greece after Hydra. The money flows. Ownership does not. The community energy cooperative proposed in the Pillar 02 standalone changes that relationship. Instead of receiving a state mandated rebate on someone else's revenue, Aisymi residents would co own new generation under Law 5037/2023, with shares held locally and surplus recycled through the Evros Energy Commons Charter. The consumer benefit fee is the proof that the policy framework for revenue sharing already exists. The next step is ownership.

What we'll do
  • Aisymi Community Energy Cooperative registered under Laws 5037/2023 and 1667/1986
  • Founding cohort of 50 to 100 village households at share prices in the €100 to €500 range on the Ecopower model
  • 500 kW solar array on available municipal or common land, with a land title and grid pre assessment in year one
  • Ownership arithmetic (fee income vs cooperative surplus) published on Diavgeia each year as the political argument
  • At least one cooperative scoped in a Muslim majority village of Western Thrace as an inclusion test, co designed with Democritus University of Thrace and a local civil society partner, with all benefits and procurement opportunities open to all legal residents on a non discriminatory basis
  • AURIO 2028 Alexandroupolis municipal slate carries the implementation, applying as lead beneficiary for Envelope A and H projects
Outcome

Aisymi cooperative registered and generating by 2029, with the ownership transition arithmetic published. Template scaled to at least five further Evros villages by 2030, with at least one Western Thrace Muslim minority cooperative in the cohort as the explicit inclusion test.

Funded by

Envelopes A and I plus cooperative member share capital. €200,000 to €500,000 for the first installation. Envelope I (Horizon Europe Cluster 5) funds the research and comparative evaluation track only; capital sits in Envelope A.

Activate the Social Economy Fund under Law 4430/2016

Activate the Social Economy Fund (Tameio Koinonikis Oikonomias) provided for by Law 4430/2016 but never operationalised since enactment. Capitalise the Fund with a €150 million allocation drawn from Recovery and Resilience Facility Component 3.4 (Social Economy and Skills), structure it as a revolving instrument under the Hellenic Development Bank umbrella, and set a verifiable national target of raising the social and solidarity economy's share of total Greek employment from approximately 1 percent in 2024 to 5 percent by 2036, intermediate 3 percent by 2031. Greece has had the Fund on paper since 2016 with no capital, no operating manager, no investment policy, and no track record of disbursing a single euro. The cooperative sector consequently has no instrument designed for its specific capital needs. Activating it is the single highest leverage action the Greek state can take for the cooperative sector at zero net fiscal cost: the capital is already allocated under the RRF, the legal frame is already in force, only the political decision to operationalise both is missing.

What we'll do
  • Joint Ministerial Decision (Koini Ypourgiki Apofasi) by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Development and Investments, and the Ministry of Economy and Finance, drafted in year one and submitted in year two, establishes the Fund as a revolving instrument capitalised at €150 million from RRF Component 3.4 in two tranches
  • Eligibility: KoinSEps registered under Law 4430/2016, Limited Liability Social Cooperatives (KOISPEs), urban cooperatives under Law 1667/1986, and agricultural cooperatives under Law 4673/2020. Instruments: equity investments capped at 30 per cent of cooperative member equity, subordinated loans up to €500,000 per cooperative at concessional rates, loan guarantees facilitating commercial bank lending
  • Fiduciary management by the Hellenic Development Bank with an investment committee of three sortition selected cooperative sector representatives, three Ministry appointees, and one Bank of Greece observer. Sortition seats drawn from the National Registry of Social and Solidarity Economy Entities under Pillar 04 deliberative procedures
  • First tranche €75 million disbursed in year three after Joint Ministerial Decision issuance and operating manager recruitment. Second tranche €75 million in year four. First annual public impact report on Diavgeia in year five, audited by the Hellenic Court of Audit (Elegktiko Synedrio) under Law 4129/2013
  • Real target, real timetable: 6.3 per cent EU 27 social economy employment share (2021, EURICSE / CIRIEC / European Commission Benchmarking Report) is the comparison baseline. The Greek gap is structural under deployment of an instrument that already exists in law
Outcome

Social Economy Fund activated and capitalised at €150 million from RRF Component 3.4 by year four, with first disbursements to KoinSEps and cooperatives in year four. Greek social economy share of total employment converges to 5 per cent by 2036 from a baseline of approximately 1 to 3 per cent in 2026. The financing institution that the 2016 law promised and that nine years of inaction withheld.

Funded by

Envelope C (RRF Greece 2.0, Component 3.4 Social Economy and Skills): €150 million principal, structured as revolving capital so principal repayments and equity exits return to the Fund for redeployment. Operating costs ~€1.2 million per year covered by management fees on the portfolio (capped at 1 per cent of assets under management). No national budget contribution at establishment.

The Money

Where the money comes from.

15% RRF SME grant ring fence for cooperative forms
€5.3bn ESF+ Greek allocation 2021–2027
5% by 2036 Social economy employment target (from 1–3% today)

Greek regional development is not waiting on new money. It is waiting on decisions. The RRF SME grant component carries €1.61bn already allocated and disproportionately accessed by Athens and Thessaloniki based firms. ESF Plus runs €5.3bn for Greece 2021 to 2027. The East Macedonia and Thrace Operational Programme totals €639M in public expenditure. Interreg VI-A Greece Bulgaria runs €83.9M. LEADER CLLD runs €200M EU contribution rising to €236M with national co financing across 50 approved Greek Local Action Groups. CERV runs €1.55bn across 2021 to 2027. Nothing below requires a new Greek budget line.

AURIO's route is redirection, not expansion. Ring fence 15 per cent of RRF SME grants for cooperative forms. Issue the Article 20 implementing decree that Greek law has been missing for nine years. Apply the local multiplier framework to existing procurement. Activate the Social Economy Fund of Law 4430/2016, dormant a decade after its enactment, as a revolving instrument capitalised through RRF Component 3.4, with a convergence target of 5 per cent social economy employment by 2036 from a current base of 1 to 3 per cent. Convert the Aisymi consumer benefit fee into Aisymi ownership. The surplus Evros produces, accumulating in Evros, is the argument.

Who Applies

How to reach the envelopes below.

  1. Alexandroupolis Municipality and regional anchors

    AH

    Direct to EYDAMTH for ERDF calls. To the Ministry of Development and Enterprise Greece for Just Transition Fund. LIFE consortium led by the municipality.

  2. Cooperatives and KoinSEps

    CDF

    Through the KALO register and the Evros Local Action Group. RRF ring fence stream from 2027 once legislated. Direct ESF Plus capacity building calls via EYDAMTH.

  3. Regional Cooperative Bank founding coalition

    E

    InvestEU Technical Assistance year two for feasibility. Bank of Greece licence application year three. Founding coalition of at least 50 cooperatives and KoinSEps.

  4. Democritus University of Thrace and research partners

    GI

    DUTH as lead beneficiary with European consortium partners. CERV civic education for the curriculum module. Horizon Europe Cluster 5 for the Aisymi energy research component.

  5. AURIO with Greek and Bulgarian partners

    B

    Cross border consortium under Interreg VI-A Greece Bulgaria. Municipal or civil society partners on both sides of the border. Platform development and maker space programming.

Full applicant's guide →

Where the money goes

Annual cost at full roll out, sorted by size. Each bar links to the proposal it pays for.

  • Ownership
  • Circulation
  • Production and materials
  • From compensation to ownership
  • Legal reform
  1. Cooperative development and ring fence in RRF grants
  2. Worker succession buyout
  3. Regional Cooperative Bank
  4. Waste as resource, a zero waste programme
  5. Activate the Social Economy Fund under Law 4430/2016
  6. Ownership and the local multiplier
  7. Maker spaces and Fab Lab network
  8. Anchor Procurement Programme
  9. Cooperative Business Register and Matchmaker
  10. Complementary credit circuit
  11. Cooperative education in schools

Total steady state envelope: €68.8m a year, drawn from the envelopes named in the funding map below.

Steady state envelope, by proposal

Annual cost at full roll out, in € millions. Envelope letters link to the funding sources below.

№Proposal€ m / yrEnvelopes
01Anchor Procurement Programme0.18A
02Cooperative development and ring fence in RRF grants48.0D
03Cooperative Business Register and Matchmaker0.06B
04Worker succession buyout12.0C
05Procurement conditions on labour standards and tax compliance——
06Issue the Article 20 implementing decree——
07Cooperative education in schools0.03G
08Complementary credit circuit0.05C
09Regional Cooperative Bank5.00E, C
10Local economic impact assessment——
11Maker spaces and Fab Lab network0.34B, F
12Waste as resource, a zero waste programme1.50F, H, A
13Ownership and the local multiplier0.40A, I
14Activate the Social Economy Fund under Law 4430/20161.20C
Steady state total68.8

Years one and two carry RRF, ERDF, ESF+ and Interreg bridge financing under Regulations (EU) 2021/241, 2021/1058, 2021/1057 and 2021/1059. From year three, existing Greek procurement budgets under Law 4412/2016 (redirected by the Article 20 decree), municipal budgets under Law 3852/2010, cooperative member share capital and cooperative surpluses absorb the floor through Envelopes A, C, D and H. Envelope I (Horizon Europe) funds research components only, not capital.

ERDF East Macedonia and Thrace Operational Programme 2021 to 2027

€473M ERDF component of €639M total public expenditure

  • 85 per cent EU, 15 per cent national cofinancing.
  • Priority 5 SO 5i urban €71M across six named Sustainable Urban Development plans including Alexandroupolis.
Legal base
Regulation (EU) 2021/1058
Proposals funded
Evros Anchor Procurement baseline audit (€150,000 to €200,000 Technical Assistance). Waste as Resource door to door collection rollout (Priority 5 Integrated Spatial Development, €71M envelope). Aisymi community energy cooperative (Pillar 02 standalone Window A, Priority 2 Energy)
Who applies
Alexandroupolis municipality as lead beneficiary, applied via EYDAMTH. Regional cooperatives eligible through Technical Assistance windows
Window
Technical Assistance rolling. Priority 5 calls aligned with the 2024 to 2029 municipal cycle. Priority 2 energy calls 2026 to 2027

Interreg VI-A Greece Bulgaria 2021 to 2027

€83.9M total, €67.2M EU ERDF and €16.8M national

  • Priority 1 Greener Cross Border Territory (€35.4M) covers climate and circular economy.
  • Cross border cooperative register frames under the circular economy and inclusive public services streams.
  • 80 per cent EU, 20 per cent national cofinancing.
Legal base
Regulation (EU) 2021/1059
Proposals funded
Cooperative Business Register and Matchmaker platform development (€150,000 to €200,000). Alexandroupolis and Orestiada maker space labs capital and programming
Who applies
AURIO with Greek and Bulgarian municipal and civil society partners. Minimum two partners, one from each country
Window
First call completed by June 2025 (€36.5M committed). Small Scale Projects Fund call expected 2026

European Social Fund Plus 2021 to 2027, national and regional programmes

€5.3bn Greece total, €165.5M East Macedonia and Thrace regional component

  • Priority 4B covers social inclusion and innovative solutions for regions with inequalities.
  • Specific Objective 4a (€12.75M) targets social economy and civil society capacity building.
Legal base
Regulation (EU) 2021/1057
Proposals funded
Worker succession buyout state match funding (€10M to €15M per year from year two). Alexandroupolis complementary credit circuit startup (€80,000 to €120,000). Regional Cooperative Bank establishment cost
Who applies
Cooperatives and KoinSEps as beneficiaries, with Alexandroupolis municipality or AURIO as lead applicant for capacity building strands. 15 per cent national cofinancing
Window
Priority 4B social cohesion calls ongoing through 2027. Worker buyout match stream requires the 2027 Marcora adaptation legislation before disbursement

National Recovery and Resilience Plan Greece 2.0, SME support component

€1.61bn grants plus €3.59bn loans

  • Ring fence proposal legislated in 2027 applies €241.5M of existing RRF SME grants to cooperative forms.
  • Specialist assessment panel including KoinSEp representatives, PASEGES, and an independent academic.
  • All decisions published on Diavgeia within five days.
Legal base
Regulation (EU) 2021/241
Proposals funded
Cooperative ring fence on 15 per cent of RRF SME grants (€241.5M). Dedicated cooperative application stream with simplified reporting
Who applies
Cooperatives with at least five worker members and majority regional ownership, via a regional delivery partner modelled on Mondragon's Caja Laboral
Window
RRF spending deadline under active negotiation with the Commission for 2026 and extended deadlines. Ring fence requires legislation in the 2027 parliamentary cycle

InvestEU guarantee instrument via the European Investment Fund

€50M to €100M guarantee facility on first lending portfolio

  • Guarantee facility is a contingent liability on the state, not a cash outlay.
  • Based on the CFI precedent of 12 per cent five year failure rate, the expected loss on a €50M portfolio is approximately €6M.
  • Lending exclusively to cooperative enterprises and KoinSEps with cooperative specific credit assessment.
Legal base
Regulation (EU) 2021/523, Laws 4261/2014 and 1667/1986
Proposals funded
Regional Cooperative Bank for East Macedonia and Thrace. Feasibility study year two. Licence application year three. Operational year five
Who applies
Founding coalition of at least 50 cooperatives and KoinSEps, founding member share capital minimum €5M
Window
InvestEU calls rolling. Technical Assistance for feasibility study year two. Bank of Greece licence application year three

CAP Strategic Plan LEADER Community Led Local Development

€200M EU, €236M total public across 50 approved Greek Local Action Groups

  • 5.5 to 6 per cent of Greece's EAFRD allocation, distributed bottom up through local action groups.
  • Public subinterventions up to €400,000 for public works and up to €20,000 for intangible interventions at 100 per cent aid intensity for public bodies.
Legal base
Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 Articles 32 to 40
Proposals funded
Aisymi rural Fab Lab (capital and programming). Rural composting, village reuse and schools reuse under the Waste as Resource programme
Who applies
Cooperatives and KoinSEps apply direct to the Evros Local Action Group
Window
Evros LAG calls rolling or thematic. First AURIO eligible call expected 2026 Q4 or 2027 Q1

Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV-2026)

€1.55bn EU total programme for 2021 to 2027

  • Civic education programme supports cooperative economic literacy.
  • National rollout after IEP approval carries zero marginal cost per school.
Legal base
Regulation (EU) 2021/692
Proposals funded
Cooperative education in schools, ten session module and teachers' handbook (€30,000 to €50,000). AURIO Thinking School local economy module
Who applies
Democritus University of Thrace with implementing partners, or AURIO Thinking School with municipal partners
Window
Annual CERV calls. Cooperative curriculum module submitted to the Ministry of Education Curriculum Design Institute for the 2028 curriculum review

LIFE Programme (Circular Economy and Quality of Life) and Just Transition Fund

LIFE €5.43bn total 2021 to 2027. JTF €1.63bn Greek allocation

  • Waste as Resource total public investment 2026 to 2032: €8M to €12M.
  • At current Alexandroupolis annual tonnage a 65 per cent separation outcome saves approximately €1.25M per year in avoided landfill fees by 2032.
Legal base
Regulation (EU) 2021/783 (LIFE) and Regulation (EU) 2021/1056 (JTF)
Proposals funded
LIFE: precious plastics unit, reuse warehouse, technical assistance component of Waste as Resource (cofinancing up to 60 per cent). JTF: Alexandroupolis municipal composting facility and door to door collection fleet renewal
Who applies
Alexandroupolis municipality as lead, with technical and civil society partners. Alexandroupolis is eligible for JTF as part of the coal transition region
Window
LIFE annual calls, typically April to September each year. JTF programming period to 2029

Horizon Europe Cluster 5, Climate Energy and Mobility

€600M indicative budget for the 2026 to 2027 work programme

  • Research and Innovation Actions at 100 per cent funding rate.
  • Minimum consortium of three legal entities from three different EU Member States.
  • Democritus University of Thrace is the natural academic anchor.
Legal base
Regulation (EU) 2021/695
Proposals funded
Aisymi community energy cooperative research and methodology component (€200,000 to €500,000 installation including feasibility, legal formation, construction)
Who applies
Consortium led by Democritus University of Thrace with European partners. AURIO cannot apply directly as a party
Window
HORIZON-CL5-2026-02-D3-20 (innovative tools for energy communities), HORIZON-CL5-2026-2-PRIZE (energy community prize, closing 25 June 2026)
What Changes For You

The payoff is local, measurable, and soon.

  1. More local jobs that last.

    Instead of seasonal tourism work or waiting for a multinational, permanent positions in locally owned cooperatives anchored in regional procurement demand. Every euro redirected to a local cooperative supplier generates two to four times the employment, tax revenue, and community reinvestment of the same euro spent with a national chain.

  2. The money you already receive becomes money you own.

    Aisymi already receives 558,000 euro a year from wind farms it does not own. The Aisymi template converts compensation into ownership. The argument scales across every Evros community that hosts renewable generation.

  3. Real support for small businesses and micro enterprises.

    94.7 percent of Greek firms are micro enterprises. They are the local economy. The cooperative register, the matchmaker, the complementary credit circuit, and the regional cooperative bank are the infrastructure they have never had.

  4. Less dependence on Athens for your livelihood.

    Cooperative enterprises, local production, regional finance, and community ownership of productive infrastructure mean economic decisions are made in Evros, not in a distant boardroom or a ministerial office.

Go Deeper

The research behind the policy.

Where it has worked.

Aisymi, Evros

From 2026

The founding local case.

The founding village of AURIO. Under Article 25 of Law 3468/2006 as modified by Law 4964/2022, renewable generators pay a consumer benefit fee, split 40 percent to reduce bills in the host community and 60 percent to the host municipality.

For 2021 to 2022, Aisymi received 558,000 euro, the second highest community payment in Greece after Hydra. The policy framework for revenue sharing from energy infrastructure already exists in Greek law. The money already flows. What does not yet flow is ownership. The Aisymi community energy cooperative, registered under Laws 5037/2023 and 1667/1986, is the next step.

Mondragon, Basque Country

Since 1956

A corporation with a different owner.

Founded in 1956 by Jose Maria Arizmendiarrieta with seven workers making paraffin heaters. By 2024 the federation reported sales of €11.213 billion, a record €632 million group profit, and 70,085 worker owners across 81 cooperatives. The wage ratio between highest and lowest paid worker owner stands at approximately 6:1 against 100:1 in comparable listed companies.

When Fagor failed in 2013, the largest cooperative insolvency in Mondragon history, the federation redeployed the majority of the 1,800 affected workers into other cooperatives rather than dismissing them. Workers who own the enterprise do not vote to fire themselves.

Emilia Romagna, Italy

Since 1985

An ecosystem, not a curiosity.

Around 8,000 cooperatives produce approximately 30 percent of regional GDP. Two out of three residents are cooperative members. The region represents 7 percent of Italy's population but 9 percent of national GDP and 12 percent of exports. In Bologna, 85 percent of social services are delivered by cooperatives.

The Marcora Law (Law 49/1985) funds worker buyouts through Cooperazione Finanza Impresa, matching worker invested severance 1:1. Since 1985, the mechanism has supported 342 buyouts involving more than 10,000 employees, with post buyout revenue more than doubling in firms converted between 2012 and 2019.

Preston, England

Since 2013

Anchor procurement moves the needle.

Six anchor institutions increased Preston based spend from 5 to 18 percent of addressable procurement, and Lancashire wide from 39 to 79 percent. The shift represents £74 million redirected inside Preston and roughly £200 million across Lancashire.

The 2025 evaluation in the BMJ group's Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health found a 4 percent employment growth differential against comparator Lancashire authorities. The proportion of jobs at the Real Living Wage rose from 76 to 88 percent between 2015 and 2022. No change to national wage law. No change to tax law. Procurement, redirected.

Cleveland Evergreen, USA

Since 2009

Ownership accumulates where wages cannot.

Three cooperatives (Evergreen Laundry, Evergreen Energy Solutions, Green City Growers) employ approximately 320 workers in Cleveland's historically extracted east side neighbourhoods. Forty percent of workers were formerly incarcerated at hire. Ninety percent employee ownership.

More than twenty three worker owners have purchased homes through the separate home ownership assistance programme. Home ownership is the quantitative expression of what ownership means: workers who accumulate through their labour, not workers who simply earn and spend.

Sardex, Sardinia

Since 2010

A mutual credit circuit, not a currency.

A B2B mutual credit circuit of 6,000 plus Sardinian businesses with more than €100 million in cumulative transactions. One Sardex credit equals one euro, but credits are non convertible: they can only be spent inside the network. Zero interest. Electronic ledger. No central bank authorisation needed.

In 2020, CDP Venture Capital invested €5.8 million to scale Sardex into SardexPay, now active across several Italian regions. The LSE academic analysis argues the network constitutes a novel economic institution, not merely a payments technology.

WIR Bank, Switzerland

Since 1934

Ninety years of countercyclical credit.

Founded in Zurich in October 1934 during the Great Depression. Approximately 50,000 to 60,000 Swiss SMEs are members, around 17 percent of all Swiss businesses. The WIR franc is non convertible. Membership carries a mandatory 30 percent acceptance rule on any transaction.

Stodder's 2009 analysis of 55 years of data showed that WIR circulation accelerates during recessions, functioning as an automatic countercyclical stabiliser. The combination of non convertibility and mandatory acceptance is the design that keeps velocity high. This is what the Bristol Pound did not have.

Bristol Pound, England

2012 to 2020

The honest failure, and why.

Launched in 2012 with real civic legitimacy. The council accepted business rates in Bristol Pounds. The mayor drew part of his salary in the currency. Bristol held the European Green Capital title in 2015.

It closed in 2020 for three structural reasons. Convertibility let large organisations pool credits and convert them back to sterling, draining the local economy. SMS payment technology was overtaken by contactless. Transaction fee revenue could not cover operating costs. Every design choice in the Alexandroupolis complementary credit circuit is a direct response to one of these three failures.

Peri Urban Environmental Management Parks, Greece

Proposed 2014, awaiting national rollout

A Greek farmland commons instrument.

During the 2014 public consultation on the Athens Regulatory Plan, the Regional Committee on Spatial Planning and Environment of Attica filed a structured objection to the draft Article 23 on the primary sector. The committee identified Αγροτική Γη Υψηλής Παραγωγικότητας (AGYP, High Productivity Agricultural Land) as the legally correct category under Law 2637/1998 Article 56 and Joint Ministerial Decision 168040/2010, and called for binding consent of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food before any new industrial reception zone could be sited on or adjacent to AGYP.

A complementary submission proposed Πάρκα Περιβαλλοντικής Διαχείρισης (Peri Urban Environmental Management Parks): contiguous peri urban farmland zones with reinforced legal protection, designated by municipal decision and mapped on Regulatory Plan basemaps. The instrument is Greek soil precedent for collectively managed productive land with statutory backing, comparable in spirit to the French ZAP (Zone Agricole Protégée) under the Code rural et de la pêche maritime. AURIO carries this work forward in Pillar 01 Proposal 14, and as a permitted designation by any municipal council in any Regional Unit where contiguous AGYP zones support it.

The deeper argument.

The argument of Pillar 03 does not rest on sentiment about scale or loyalty to place. It rests on three pieces of evidence gathered from six decades of documented cooperative practice and fifteen years of anchor procurement data.

The ownership evidence comes from Gordon Nembhard. Across one hundred and fifty years, communities that built cooperative institutions accumulated surplus and passed it to the next generation. Communities that relied on external capital acting in their interest did not. The Aisymi consumer benefit fee of 558,000 euro for 2021 to 2022 is not a problem in itself. It is the proof that money flows. It is also the proof that compensation is not ownership. A community that co owns the generation asset keeps the whole surplus, not a statutory fraction of someone else's revenue.

The governance evidence comes from Mondragon. Seventy thousand worker owners across 81 cooperatives in a federation that has never relocated a cooperative to a lower cost jurisdiction. In 2013 when Fagor failed, the federation redeployed the majority of 1,800 workers rather than dismiss them. Cooperative governance is the structural difference between a business that can move and a business that cannot. For a regional economy at the eastern border of Europe, that difference is decisive.

The procurement evidence comes from Preston. Six anchor institutions moved 74 million pounds of annual spend inside the city, and 200 million pounds inside the county, without any change to national wage law or tax law. The 2025 study in the BMJ group's Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health recorded the employment effect at four percent against synthetic controls. The mechanism is reproducible. Greece already has the transparency infrastructure (Diavgeia), the legal base (Law 4412/2016 Article 20), and the anchor institutions (Democritus University of Thrace, Evros General Hospital, Alexandroupolis municipality). What is missing is the implementing presidential decree that converts Article 20 from permission into obligation. Nine years, no decree.

Together these three evidences describe the switch. The ownership argument says accumulation requires ownership, not compensation. The governance argument says ownership is structural, not rhetorical. The procurement argument says the redirection can begin now, with existing institutions, existing law, and existing transparency tools. Raworth's doughnut then sets the envelope: a local economy that meets its social foundation while staying within the ecological ceiling, which is the only form of economic development that does not eventually destroy the conditions for its own continuation.

Greece is not starting from a blank page. Law 1667/1986 gives the urban cooperative form. Law 4430/2016 establishes the social and solidarity economy framework. Law 4673/2020 updated agricultural cooperatives. Law 4738/2020 created the pre pack rehabilitation procedure that a worker succession buyout can be built on. The construction of the legal house is substantially complete. What is missing is the roof (the Article 20 decree), the furniture (the cooperative register, the regional cooperative bank, the complementary credit circuit), and the residents (the cooperatives and buyouts that those institutions are designed to serve).

The Article 20 decree, when issued, applies to every Greek region. The anchor institutions are already in place: the National Technical University of Athens, the University of Athens and Athens University of Economics and Business in Attica; Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Papageorgiou Hospital in Central Macedonia; the University of Patras; the University of Crete and FORTH in Heraklion; the University of Ioannina; the University of Thessaly in Volos; and Democritus University of Thrace in Alexandroupolis. Each Greek region has the infrastructure to redirect procurement toward local cooperatives. The Preston mechanism is reproducible in Heraklion, in Patras, in Ioannina, and in every regional capital whose university hospital spends tens of millions of euro a year on goods and services that currently leave the region. Aisymi is the community energy ownership proof at village scale. Every Greek regional capital is the anchor procurement proof at city scale, once the decree is signed.

The money already flows through Greek regions. What does not yet flow is ownership. Pillar 03 is the argument that this can be reversed.

AURIO is for the people who are ready to own what they produce.

References

Sources cited in this paper. Read more
  • Schumacher, E. F. "Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered" (Blond and Briggs, 1973)
  • Gordon Nembhard, J. "Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice" (Penn State University Press, 2014; tenth anniversary edition 2024)
  • Raworth, K. "Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist" (Cornerstone Press, 2017); Amsterdam City Doughnut (April 2020)
  • Mondragon Corporation, Annual Report 2024, reporting sales of €11.213 billion, €632 million profit, 70,085 worker owners
  • New Economics Foundation, LM3 methodology, "The Money Trail" (2002) and "Forecasting a Better Future" (January 2025)
  • Institute for Local Self Reliance, independent business multiplier studies, synthesising Civic Economics research
  • Brown et al., "Community Wealth Building and employment outcomes in Preston," Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 79:9, 658 (BMJ Publishing Group, 2025), doi 10.1136/jech-2024-223499
  • Democracy Collaborative, "The Preston Model: Ten Years On" (2025) and Cleveland Evergreen Cooperatives case documentation
  • Sartori, L. and Dini, P. "From complementary currency to institution: a micro macro study of the Sardex mutual credit system," Economy and Society (LSE, 2016)
  • Stodder, J. "Complementary credit networks and macroeconomic stability: Switzerland's Wirtschaftsring," Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (2009)
  • Cooperazione Finanza Impresa (CFI), institutional brief on the Marcora Law worker buyout framework (Law 49/1985 as amended by Law 57/2001)
  • Greek laws: 1667/1986 (urban cooperatives); 4430/2016 (social and solidarity economy, including the Social Economy Fund / Ταμείο Κοινωνικής Οικονομίας provided in the same Law); 4412/2016 Articles 18, 20, 86, 131 (public procurement, reserved contracts, social value); 4673/2020 (agricultural cooperatives); 5037/2023 (energy communities); 4738/2020 Article 64 (pre pack rehabilitation procedure); 4172/2013 (income tax); 4601/2019 (corporate transformations)
  • EURICSE / CIRIEC / European Commission, Benchmarking Report on Social Economy in the EU (2024); EU Social Economy Gateway country profile, Greece
  • Greek Recovery and Resilience Plan, Component 3.4 (Social Economy and supporting employment instruments)
  • AURIO, "Pillar 03. Local Economy: From Extraction to Circulation. A Policy Programme for the 2028 Alexandroupolis Mayoral Campaign and the 2027 National Campaign" (April 2026). Full standalone document including 14 proposals with the complete nine field structure, five year cash flow projection, risk matrix, and appendices on Greek legal framework, local multiplier model for Evros, and the Aisymi numbers in full.

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