Unused EU funds: State risks losing skilled workers 19. December 202319. December 2023 It has been made public that Saxony-Anhalt will forfeit almost 130 million euros from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in 2023. According to media reports, the state will therefore only be able to draw down just under 91% of the total 1.51 billion euros from the fund. Madeleine Linke, state chairwoman of Alliance 90/The Greens Saxony-Anhalt, explains: “130 million euros is not peanuts for our federal state. It is not unusual for universities to finance academic staff positions with ERDF funds. The state government is therefore risking a brain drain, which Saxony-Anhalt urgently needs.” “We simply don’t have the luxury of doing without EU funding.” Madeleine Linke Linke continued: “The chaos was already foreseeable in September. At that time, no form for the ERDF program year 2024 could be found on the state’s websites. For many employees, this resulted in unnecessary uncertainty as to whether their job could continue in January 2024. It is dishonest to once again blame this failure on the pandemic. The state administration urgently needs to work in a more service-oriented manner in order to retain talent and skilled workers in the state! We simply don’t have the luxury of doing without EU funding.”