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Σοκ για τις προεκλογικές
παροχές της κυβέρνησης
ΣΥΡΙΖΑ αποτελεί η έκθεση
των Θεσμών για την
ελληνική οικονομία. Ομως
εκτιμά, το επίδομα στους
συνταξιούχους (που είχε
βαφτιστεί 13η σύνταξη),
σε μια χρονιά που δεν
προσαρμόστηκαν οι
παλαιές συντάξεις στο
νόμο Κατρούγκαλου,
θέτουν εν αμφιβόλω την
επίτευξη του στόχου 3,5%
του ΑΕΠ για το
πρωτογενές πλεόνασμα.
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Ακόμη, δεν αλλάζουν τα
δεδομένα για τη
βιωσιμότητα του χρέους,
δεδομένου ότι και τα
έσοδα από
αποκρατικοποιήσεις έχουν
εκτροχιαστεί.
Αν
δε το επίδομα στις
συντάξεις γίνει μόνιμο
τότε το πρόγραμμα θα
πέσει έξω και το 2020.
Ιδιαίτερη σημασία για
τον εκτροχιασμό της
οικονομίας και του
χρόνου έχει το γεγονός
ότι στην έκθεση
αναφέρεται ότι αυτό θα
συμβεί εξαιτίας του
συνδυασμού του
επιδόματος στους
συνταξιούχους με τη μη
μείωση του αφορολόγητου
ορίου, όπως αυτό έχει
ψηφιστεί.
Η
έκθεση έρχεται την ίδια
ώρα που ο πρωθυπουργός
από την ΕΡΤ που έδινε
συνέντευξη προανήγγειλε
την ακύρωση με
τροπολογία της μείωσης
του αφορολόγητου τις
επόμενες ημέρες.
Ουσιαστικά η τρόικα λέει
ότι αν η κυβέρνηση
ΣΥΡΙΖΑ προχωρήσει (για
προεκλογικούς λόγους)
στην ακύρωση του μέτρου,
τότε και το 2020 η
οικονομία τινάζεται στον
αέρα.
Διαβάστε αποκλειστικά το
κείμενο της έκθεσης στα
αγγλικά
Economic developments
and policies in Greece
are monitored under the
European Semester for
economic policy
co-ordination and under
the enhanced
surveillance framework
according to Regulation
(EU) No 472/2013 ((1)). The
activation of enhanced
surveillance for Greece ((2)) acknowledges
the fact that over the
medium term, Greece
needs to continue
adopting measures to
address the sources or
potential sources of
economic and financial
difficulties, while
implementing structural
reforms to support
robust and sustainable
economic growth.
Enhanced surveillance
provides a comprehensive
framework for monitoring
economic developments
and the pursuit of
policies needed to
ensure a sustainable
economic recovery. It
provides for a regular
assessment of recent
economic and financial
developments in Greece,
as well as for
monitoring sovereign
financing conditions and
updates of the debt
sustainability analysis.
Enhanced surveillance
also provides the basis
for assessing the
general commitment given
by Greece to the
Eurogroup of 22 June
2018 to continue and
complete reforms adopted
under the European
Stability Mechanism (ESM)
programme and to ensure
that the objectives of
the important reforms
adopted under the
financial assistance
programmes are
safeguarded. Greece
reiterated these
commitments in the
Eurogroup statement of 5
April 2019 ((3)).
In that context,
enhanced surveillance
provides the basis for
monitoring the
implementation of
specific commitments to
complete key structural
reforms started under
the programme in six key
areas by agreed
deadlines up to
mid-2022, namely: (i)
fiscal and
fiscal-structural
policies, (ii) social
welfare, (iii) financial
stability, (iv) labour
and product markets, (v)
privatisation and (vi)
the modernisation of
public administration ((4)).
Fifteen specific
commitments have a
deadline of mid-2019,
progress on which is
assessed in this report.
This is the third
enhanced surveillance
report for Greece. It
is issued alongside the
assessment of Greece’s
Stability Programme and
the Commission
Recommendation for
country-specific
recommendations to
Greece under the
European Semester. This
report is based on the
findings of a mission to
Athens between 6 and 8
May 2019 conducted by
the Commission in
liaison with the ECB ((5)).
The IMF participated in
the context of its 2019
Article IV surveillance
cycle, while the ESM
participated in the
context of its Early
Warning System and in
line with the Memorandum
of Understanding of 27
April 2018 on working
relations between the
European Commission and
ESM.
The Eurogroup on 22 June
2018 agreed that the
package of debt relief
measures for Greece
should include
incentives to ensure a
strong and continuous
implementation of the
reform measures agreed
in the programme.To
this end, the
implementation of some
of the agreed debt
measures will be made
available to Greece
subject to compliance
with its commitments on
reform continuity and
completion, based on
positive reports under
enhanced surveillance,
in semi-annual tranches
up to mid-2022.
Following the Eurogroup
on 5 April 2019, the
first tranche of
policy-contingent debt
measures was released,
taking into account the
assessment of the
implementation of
Greece’s commitments for
end-2018 in an updated
enhanced surveillance
report adopted by the
Commission on 3 April
2019 ((6)).
Economic outlook
Greece’s economic
recovery is expected to
continue in 2019. Following
an annual growth rate of
1.9% in 2018, real GDP
growth is forecast to
reach 2.2% in both 2019
and 2020, supported
primarily by domestic
demand. Private
consumption has been a
steady contributor to
the recovery and is
forecast to perform well
again in 2019. Public
consumption may support
growth this year
according to budgetary
plans, though Greece’s
track record of
underspending implies a
downside risk. The same
holds for public
investment, while a
rebound in residential
investment suggests that
the housing market is on
a normalisation path
against headwinds from
the still shrinking
supply of bank credit in
this market segment.
Buoyant export
performance was a key
growth driver in 2018,
but is expected to
moderate in 2019 amid a
slowdown of the external
environment. However,
exports of goods and
services are still
forecast to increase by
close to 5% in 2019 and
close to 4% in 2020 in
real terms.
The labour market shows
further improvements,
although the decline in
unemployment halted in
October 2018 at 18.6%,
hovering around that
level until February
2019. Employment
still showed
year-on-year growth of
2.4% in February, though
this reflects earlier
gains in employment
rather than recent
improvements. Detailed
monitoring is foreseen
to assess the impact of
the recent increase of
the minimum wage and the
abolition of the
sub-minimum wage on the
pace of the recovery in
the labour market.
Inflation is expected to
remain muted throughout
2019, and to pick up
only beyond 2020 as the
output gap closes.
Downside risks dominate
the forecast in the
short and medium term. The
forecast is heavily
reliant on technical
assumptions regarding
the full execution of
the budget ceilings for
investment and ordinary
spending.
Vulnerabilities in the
banking sector and
increasing wage costs
might pose further
challenges for the
recovery of domestic
demand and in particular
of investment. In case
of a
stronger-than-expected
deterioration in the
external environment, or
a higher pass-through to
Greece, the recovery may
prove to be more
sluggish.
Fiscal policies and
outlook
Greece over-achieved the
agreed primary surplus
target of 3.5% of GDP in
2018, largely due to
continued
under-execution of
spending ceilings,
notably on public
investment. The
general government
headline balance
recorded a surplus (1.1%
of GDP) for the third
year in a row, while the
primary surplus
monitored under enhanced
surveillance reached
4.3% of GDP, well above
target. The primary
surplus would have been
even larger, but the
emerging fiscal space
allowed the authorities
to clear unforeseen
liabilities following
from a Court decision
and pay a means-tested
benefit to households at
the end of 2018. For the
most part, the
under-execution of
expenditure arises due
to setting budget
ceilings above the
actual spending capacity
of budgetary units and
underlines the need for
proper assessments of
the state of play on
major spending projects
and realistic estimates
of costs of new
policies. These issues
have occurred for a
number of past years.
The European
institutions are
supporting the
authorities to address
the reasons of the
systematic underspending
in order to improve
budgetary practices and
to fully utilise the
resources available for
public investment from
both the EU and national
sources to support
growth.
The Commission 2019
spring forecast,
published before the
adoption of new fiscal
measures on 15 May 2019,
indicated that the
primary surplus would
reach 3.6% of GDP in
2019, which
is considerably lower
(by 0.5% of GDP) than
the projection of the
Greek authorities in
their Stability
Programme. The
difference in the
forecasts mainly arises
due to the authorities’
more favourable
macroeconomic scenario
and their approach to
the allocation of the
public investment budget
between entities outside
and inside general
government. More
specifically, this
involves a re-assignment
of part of the
expenditure previously
foreseen for investment
to grants to state-owned
enterprises, without the
grants being used for
additional spending by
their recipients. This
accounting operation has
a balance-improving
effect in the projection
of the authorities (0.3%
of GDP in 2019 and 0.2%
of GDP in 2020). In the
absence of adequate
information on the
nature or the specific
recipients of the
additional grants, this
re-assignment of
expenditure is not
reflected in the
projections of the
European institutions.
In contrast, the fiscal
projections prepared by
the European
institutions assume full
execution of the
ceilings in line with
standard practice.
In
their Stability
Programme, the Greek
authorities announced
their intention not to
implement the
pre-legislated income
tax credit package,
which was set to enter
into force in January
2020.
This means not
proceeding with measures
that broaden the tax
base and create fiscal
space of 1% of GDP for
growth-enhancing reforms
of the tax system.
On
15 May 2019, and thus
after the submission of
the Stability Programme,
the authorities adopted
a package of permanent
fiscal measures which
the European
institutions estimate
will have a fiscal cost
of more than 1% of GDP
in 2019 and beyond. The
measures include new
instalment schemes for
debts on taxes and to
social security funds
and municipalities,
reductions in selected
VAT rates, the
introduction of a 13th pension,
and a reversal of an
earlier reform of
survivors’ pensions.
Projections by the
European institutions
show that the adoption
of the fiscal measures
on 15 May 2019 poses a
risk for the achievement
of the agreed primary
surplus target of 3.5%
of GDP in 2019 and
beyond. The magnitude
will depend on the take
up of the new instalment
schemes and their impact
on existing ones.
Moreover, and as
outlined in the
assessment of the Greek
Stability Programme, the
measures also raise
concerns on the
achievement of the
medium-term budgetary
objective (MTO) in
structural terms in
2020. A re-assessment of
compliance with the
requirements of the
preventive arm of the
Stability and Growth
Pact will be carried out
in autumn 2019,
including a revision of
the applicable benchmark
for net expenditure
growth in 2020.
The quality of the
fiscal measures adopted
on 15 May 2019 is of
concern given the
objective to make public
finances more
growth-friendly and to
direct a higher share of
social spending towards
groups who face the
highest incidence of
poverty. For
example, the duration of
the new instalment
schemes is very long
(120 monthly payments),
and the schemes contain
only limited provisions
to assess the ability to
pay; it is recalled that
a key reform enacted in
2013 replaced all former
settlement schemes by a
single ‘basic’ scheme
accessible under strict
eligibility criteria.
Lower VAT rates for food
products, restaurants
and food services,
electricity and gas
contrast with an
important measure
adopted in July 2015,
while leaving in place
the very high 24%
standard rate and
further increase the VAT
gap, which is already
the 2nd highest
in the EU. Furthermore,
the introduction of a
permanent 13th pension
and relaxation of the
eligibility criteria for
survivors’ pensions
partially alter measures
adopted in 2012 and 2016
respectively. These
reforms will increase
public spending on
pensions, which is
already the highest as a
share of GDP in the EU,
and is in contrast to
measures adopted in the
2019 budget which
directs a higher share
of spending on social
benefits towards the
young people and
working-age population
who face much higher
risks of poverty.
Overall, the adopted
measures on pensions and
VAT are targeted at
consumption and will
absorb a considerable
amount of fiscal space
that was envisaged in
legislation adopted in
2017 for
growth-enhancing
reductions in labour and
corporate tax rates.
The Greek authorities
announced their
intention to adopt a set
of additional
expansionary fiscal
measures for 2020 in
autumn this year. These
include reductions in
tax rates, as well as
the introduction of a
series of exemptions and
tax expenditures or
subsidies. The
authorities have
provided only a partial
estimate of the fiscal
impact of these
measures, totalling EUR
1.2 billion or 0.6% of
GDP. For now, these
announcements remain
statements of future
policy intention and an
assessment on the
quality of the measures
and their impact on the
achievement of the
agreed fiscal targets
would only be carried
out if detailed
proposals are actually
tabled.
The Greek authorities
have also announced
their intention to
revisit the agreement
reached with European
partners in June 2018 as
regards the annual
primary surplus targets
of 3.5% of GDP up to
2022. Linked
to this, the authorities
are considering
transferring part of the
cash reserves generated
by the 2016-2018 fiscal
over-performance to an
escrow account. Any
proposal which alters
the agreement reached
with European partners
in June 2018 would need
to be discussed at the
Eurogroup in the context
of an updated debt
sustainability analysis.
Greece’s public finances
continue to face
important fiscal risks
with respect to ongoing
court cases and the
possible broadening of
exemptions from the
unified wage grid. No
new information on the
pending case on pensions
has become available
since the publication of
the second enhanced
surveillance report, and
the ruling by the
Council of State on the
constitutionality of the
cuts in seasonal bonuses
is yet to be published.
In addition, risks to
the integrity of the
unified wage bill have
already started to
materialise and remain a
source of concern. They
stem mainly from the
decision to exempt
certain officials at the
Ministry of Finance from
the unified wage grid in
October 2018, a decision
that has been extended
to other public entities
since. While the cost of
this measure is
relatively contained, it
increases the likelihood
of legal challenges by
other groups of public
officials and/or of
further discretionary
extensions. Establishing
a unified wage grid was
one of the key reforms
implemented under the
financial assistance
programmes. In the event
of court rulings
overturning key
structural elements of
reforms agreed under the
programme, the recurrent
fiscal implications of
such rulings should be
largely addressed by
actions within the same
policy area.
Fiscal structural
policies
Greece has made progress
in the reform of the
ENFIA property tax
valuation framework,
though preparations for
a mid-2019 realignment
of property values have
not yet been completed. Considerable
progress has been made
on the operational, IT
and legal aspects of the
valuation process, and
there has been agreement
that a new nationwide
valuation exercise by
valuers is not needed in
mid-2019 (which had been
a specific commitment).
At the same time, work
still needs to be
completed for a partial
realignment of property
tax values in 2019,
which the authorities
have been working
towards as an
intermediate step
towards fully aligning
property tax zonal
values with market
prices by 2020.
Progress is underway on
other smaller tax policy
reforms. With
the help of technical
support, reviews are
currently underway of
the system of Stamp Duty
and of the potential
individual liability of
corporate managers for
tax offences.
The hiring of staff to
the Independent
Authority for Public
Revenue (IAPR) remains
slow. Only
a marginal increase was
observed during the
first quarter of 2019:
if the current hiring
trend remains, there is
a risk that the specific
commitment for end-2019
may not be met. In
addition, a number of
complementary measures
were adopted earlier in
the year to ensure the
continued strengthening
of the IAPR’s capacity
and follow-up actions
are expected for the
next months, in
particular related to
Human Resource reform,
implementation of the
strategic Blueprint and
IT arrangements.
Progress on other
commitments and reform
items is mixed. On
customs, continued
progress has been made
in delivering on the
anti-smuggling strategy
and the fuel tank action
plan. Work on promoting
electronic payments is
proceeding well, while
on the other hand the
planned asset registry
has not been completed.
Finally, a recent law
amendment raises
potential overlaps
between the
responsibilities of
General Secretariat for
IT Systems and the IAPR,
and it is essential that
a cooperation framework
is agreed.
The results for the
first quarter of 2019 on
key performance
indicators set by the
IAPR present a mixed
picture. Tax
collection has been
weaker than targeted,
while key performance
indicators in most other
areas, including
collection after audits,
are being met. The Joint
Centre for the
Collection of Social
Security Debt (KEAO)
continues to meet its
targets for the
collection of social
security debt, which are
more ambitious than for
the preceding year,
though debt collection
in April 2019 decreased
year-on-year. IAPR and
KEAO are working towards
strengthening their
co-operation within a
coherent framework. In
this context, the
adoption of relevant
legislation to allow
KEAO to apply the IAPR’s
classification of the
persons/entities
considered to have
‘uncollectable’ debt
should be adopted
without further delays.
New instalment schemes
were adopted for tax,
social security and
municipal debt with up
to 120 monthly
instalments. This
alters a key reform
enacted in 2013 that
replaced former
settlement schemes by a
single ‘basic’ scheme
accessible under strict
eligibility criteria in
a manner which
reinstates design
problems of earlier
schemes. While the scope
of the social security
debt is more targeted,
as its focus is on the
self-employed and it
links entitlements to
contributions, the new
instalment scheme on
taxes does not include
any specific
prioritisation for
eligibility or any prior
viability assessment. In
light of past
experience, the
announcement of a new
instalment scheme may
have contributed to
weakening revenue
collection and can
create risks to payment
discipline.
Progress with arrears
clearance remains
disappointing. The
Greek authorities have
committed to clear the
stock of arrears, avoid
the accumulation of new
arrears (a continuous
action) and to complete
the implementation of
reforms identified by
the Hellenic Court of
Auditors by mid-2019.
Despite the fact that
the net stock of arrears
has decreased since the
end of the programme,
the pace of reduction
has significantly slowed
and new arrears continue
to be created in some
sectors. The end-March
2019 stock of net
arrears stood at EUR 1.4
billion, and while EUR
0.3 billion lower than
the end of programme
(August 2018), this is
the same level as at
end-December 2018. Of
the total EUR 7 billion
disbursed for arrears
clearance during the
programme, EUR 0.1
billion remain unused by
end-April 2019.
The authorities are
currently implementing
structural measures to
address the bottlenecks
of arrears management,
based on the
recommendations of
systemic nature issued
by the Hellenic Court of
Auditors.
To this end, the
authorities have made
progress with the
implementation of two
action plans, in the
fields of responsibility
of General Accounting
Office and the IAPR
respectively. The
overall implementation
of the reforms in both
action plans will be
assessed by the Hellenic
Court of Auditors in
mid-2019 in the context
of their follow-up
audit.
A
way forward was agreed
on the abolition of ex
ante audits
performed by the
Hellenic Court of
Auditors for entities
outside central
government. The
authorities have amended
relevant legislation so
as to ensure that
hospitals and the social
benefits agency are no
longer subject to ex
ante audits,
while the abolition will
take place at end-July
2019 for the remaining
extra-budgetary funds
and municipalities in
light of capacity
considerations. The
authorities have
committed to undertake a
set of specific
supplementary actions,
with a view to ensuring
that the abolition of ex
ante audits,
which brings Greece
closer in line with
international practice,
runs smoothly. The
authorities will need to
stick with the full
arrears clearance plan
and implement
complementary actions
targeting the structural
sources of arrears
creation.
As
regards other public
financial management
reforms, the authorities
are moving forward with
implementing a Treasury
Single Account at the
Bank of Greece and with
setting up a Unified
Chart of Accounts. Some
progress on the Treasury
Single Account has been
made in the first months
of 2019 though the most
important measures still
remain to be taken. An
important intermediate
step was the rollout of
the Unified Chart of
Accounts for the 2019
State budget, and the
authorities will need to
further build on this
with a view to ensuring
full implementation of
the Unified Chart of
Accounts by 2023.
social welfare
The authorities have
recently passed
legislation that repeals
important elements of
the pension reforms
adopted in 2012 and 2016
and leads to an increase
in spending on pensions
as a share of GDP. In
May 2019, the
authorities repealed the
2016 reform of the
survivor’s pensions that
modernised and aligned
the pension entitlements
to standard practices of
other Member States,
loosening eligibility
criteria and increasing
entitlements.
Furthermore, the
authorities have
reinstated a permanent
13th pension
that had been eliminated
in 2012. Both measures
will decrease the
relative share of social
benefits benefiting the
young and working age
population where the
risk of poverty is much
higher than for
pensioners.
The pace of collection
of the health care
clawbacks has seen a
recent improvement, and
collection of the
clawback for 2018 is
currently ongoing
(mid-2019 specific
commitment). Around
one third of the
clawback has been
completed for outpatient
pharmaceuticals and
drugs circulated through
pharmacies affiliated
with the national health
insurance fund, while
for privately provided
services the amount for
2018 has not been
quantified yet. There
are also still some
backlogs in the
clawbacks for previous
years. Despite
improvements in
collection, the
generation of new
clawbacks is high and
has been increasing over
time to levels which may
soon become
unsustainable. This
underlines the need for
more sustained efforts
to implement structural
measures designed to
curb supply-induced
demand. In this respect,
some recent measures,
including changes to the
repricing mechanism for
pharmaceuticals, go in
the wrong direction and
may exacerbate the
situation as regards the
balance of burden
sharing between the
public sector and
private companies.
The roll-out of primary
health care is
proceeding but at a slow
pace and with marked
disparities across the
country. The
authorities fulfilled
the end-2018 commitment
of opening at least 120
primary health care
units, and have
meanwhile exceeded the
target with 124
openings. However, the
broader roll-out of
primary health care
occurs at a slow pace
and with uneven
distribution across the
country, partly due to
challenges with the
recruitment of general
practitioners.
Progress on centralised
health procurement
continues at a slow
pace, with staff
constraints translating
into still limited
capacity to launch new
tenders.Reaching
the necessary minimum
staffing level will be a
key determinant of the
capability of the
centralised procurement
body for healthcare to
operate effectively and
systematically to
realise the potential
savings coming from
central procurement.
In
the area of social
welfare, a new housing
benefit for renters has
been introduced, further
enhancing the
effectiveness of the
Greek social welfare
system. The
scheme addresses housing
cost overburden by
providing a means-tested
subsidy to low-income
households for paying
the rent on their
primary residence. As of
end-April 2019, some
240 000 applications
have been accepted,
corresponding to some
630 000 individuals
(close to 6% of the
Greek population), a
result in line with
initial expectations.
The reform of the system
of disability benefits
is advancing but with
significant delays.
Upgraded and simplified
procedures are being
gradually introduced
throughout the country.
The new approach to
determine disability
status based on both
medical and functional
assessment (whose
application is a
mid-2019 specific
commitment) is to be
developed on the basis
of a pilot project that
received technical
support of the World
Bank. In view of
administrative delays,
the evaluation of the
pilot is only set to be
completed by the end of
the year, implying that
the project can only be
concluded in 2020. A
revised timeline
detailing the
intermediate steps and a
final deadline for
adoption should be
defined.
The Social Solidarity
Income scheme is
reaching its maturity.
In the first four months
of 2019, the scheme
reached about 270 000
households (about
500 000 individuals),
for an annual
expenditure of around
EUR 680 million. This is
slightly lower than last
year, likely reflecting
a combination of more
effective controls and
eligibility checks and
the general improvement
of the economic and
social situation.
Meanwhile the
implementation of the
second and third pillars
of the Social Solidarity
Income (an end-2019
specific commitment), is
progressing. With
respect to the second
pillar (social
inclusion), a network of
Community Centres has
been established
throughout the country
with the support of the
European Social Fund,
expanding the provision
of social services at
local level in a
coordinated way. For the
third pillar (labour
market integration), the
authorities are shifting
to a more systematic
approach to the design
and management of active
labour market policies,
which is currently
tested in a pilot
project.
financial sector
policies
The situation of the
financial sector
continues to be
challenging with
improvements occurring
at a very slow pace and
remaining significant
vulnerabilities.
On a positive note, the
liquidity situation of
Greek banks has further
improved. Greek banks
still rely primarily on
their internal capacity
to generate capital,
which has been further
weakened by their low
profitability due to
their poor asset
quality. Although
broadly adequate, the
capital position of the
banking system slightly
deteriorated during 2018
in a context of low
profitability and weak
asset quality, while
deferred tax credits
continue to account for
a sizeable part of core
tier 1 capital.
Non-performing loans (NPLs)
have been gradually
decreasing, but remain
elevated, amounting to
EUR 81.8 billion at
end-2018 in comparison
with a peak of EUR 107.2
billion in March 2016.
This translates into a
NPL ratio of 45.4%,
which is 1.8 percentage
points lower than the
previous year. Despite
the progress made to
date, further major
efforts are required to
achieve a faster NPL
reduction.
Work is ongoing on a
range of initiatives to
strengthen the NPL
resolution framework,
but the pace of
implementation remains
uneven, and additional
efforts are warranted. More
specifically:
The conduct of
electronic auctions is
proceeding across the
territory, though at a
somewhat slowing pace.
Still, a large share of
auctions (approximately
two-thirds in the first
quarter of 2019
according to data
provided by the Greek
authorities) is
cancelled, suspended or
is unsuccessful. No
action has been taken so
far to address these
issues. The issue of
possible procedural
abuses is under
assessment by the
authorities together
with the Hellenic Bank
Association (with report
due in September 2019),
and mitigating actions
should be enacted in the
context of the ongoing
review of the
implementation of the
Greek Code of Civil
Procedure.
The process of the
gradual elimination of
the backlog of cases in
the context of the
household insolvency
framework is
significantly behind
schedule. Collection and
processing of data on
the clearing of court
backlogs in the
household insolvency
framework is ongoing;
its completion should
support the elaboration
of a revised action plan
by the authorities by
end-June 2019, while the
impact of the new
mechanism for the
protection of primary
residences should be
factored in later in the
year. Preliminary data
points to an increase of
cases in the first
quarter of 2019, whilst
the authorities in their
indicative trajectory
envisaged a reduction.
Therefore it is
important to increase
processing capacity to
achieve the full
elimination of the
backlog of cases by
2021.
Following the adoption
of primary and secondary
legislation establishing
a new system for the
protection of eligible
primary residences in
support of the
restructuring of
non-performing loans,
technical work on the
electronic platform is
ongoing. The complexity
of the process has led
to a revision of the
initial time frame, with
the platform now
scheduled to be
operational by end-July
2019. This should not
affect its planned
expiry at the end of
2019 however it might
adversely affect the
enforcement procedure in
the second and third
quarter of 2019. With
respect to the required
State aid approval of
the protective framework
by the Commission, the
Greek authorities intend
to submit the official
request shortly. An
important pending issue
regarding the
effectiveness of the new
framework in the context
of NPL resolution is the
required enactment of an
extension of the tax
treatment of write-offs
that expired at the end
of 2018, which should be
undertaken in a timely
manner.
The Greek authorities
committed in the context
of the second enhanced
surveillance report to
harmonize and improve in
the coming months in a
holistic fashion the
bankruptcy and
insolvency regimes. The
Greek authorities
proposed to address the
issue either through a
law-drafting committee
or by means of a working
group. While no proposal
has been received so
far, they committed to
present a more concrete
proposal shortly.
Work on the evaluation
of the implementation
record of the reformed
Code of Civil Procedure
is ongoing, and
advancing towards
completion of the
data-gathering phase.
The authorities reported
further progress in the
provision of financial
training to judges,
notably in the area of
household insolvency.
The authorities have
also continued with the
appointment of
successful candidates of
recently completed
personnel selection
competitions for court
clerks.
While the use of the
out-of-court workout
mechanism recorded
modest increases up to
the first quarter of
2019, recently adopted
legislative amendments
to the framework are of
concern. These
amendments have further
extended its cut-off
date regarding the time
limit set to the
inclusion of debt in the
restructuring, for the
second time since the
adoption of the law. The
stipulation of a firm
cut-off date is an
important feature of
this mechanism because
it discourages strategic
default planning and
thereby helps avert
moral hazard.
The large stock of
called loan guarantees
by the state is subject
to a low processing rate
and a high rejection
rate. The action plan
adopted by the
authorities in March
2019 is so far on track,
but does not allow for a
full clearance of the
guarantees called in a
reasonable timeline.
Some additional measures
are considered to
address the clearance
process issue, notably
the temporary
recruitment of
personnel.
Well-designed systemic
initiatives could be
helpful elements in the
toolkit of NPL
resolution. Further
efforts are needed in
scrutinizing all
available policy options
that could support all
banks in a swift NPL
reduction. The
authorities are
continuing their work on
an Asset Protection
Scheme, but to date
there has been no
progress in exploring
whether the scheme can
also be complemented
through an Asset
Management Company.
In
line with Greece’s
Eurogroup commitments,
the status of the
Hellenic Financial
Stability Fund will
remain unchanged and it
will continue its
efforts to achieve its
ultimate goal of
reprivatising its stakes
in the systemic banks in
the coming years. The
potential involvement of
the authorities in the
final stage of
implementing the Funds’
divestment strategy is
still under discussion.
In early May 2019, the
appointments to the
vacant positions both in
the Executive Board
(including the Deputy
Chief Executive Officer)
and the General Council
of the Fund have finally
been enacted.
Labour market
The Greek authorities
continue monitoring
labour market and wage
developments and intend
to conduct an ex-post
assessment of the recent
increase in the minimum
wage. To
this end, the Ministry
of Labour has been
developing a monitoring
tool based on
administrative data.
According to preliminary
data, employment growth
in the private sector
was robust in the first
months following the
increase in the minimum
wage (February-April
2019), with a large
increase in the number
of registered contracts.
The use and integration
of additional data
sources should enable a
more robust estimation
of the effects of recent
policy changes, and
technical support to
this effect from the
World Bank is expected
to start in June 2019.
The action plan to fight
undeclared work is
progressing smoothly. A
higher number of
inspections was carried
out in 2018 compared to
the previous year, and
data from inspection
results show a positive
picture, with a steady
reduction in the
incidence of undeclared
work in high-risk
sectors.
A
new provision on the
rules for dismissal
(whereby a dismissal is
not valid if it is not
based on a ‘valid
reason’), was adopted in
May 2019. According
to the Greek
authorities, this
provision does not
appear to materially
alter the current rules,
as the right of
employees not to be
dismissed without a
‘valid reason’ had
already been introduced
in the Greek legal
system with the
ratification of the
Revised European Social
Charter in 2016. It
remains to be seen to
what extent the new
provision, which the
authorities argue aims
at enhancing legal
clarity will affect the
overall number of
dismissals, lead to an
increase in litigation,
with a higher number of
dismissal decisions
being challenged in
court, and/or lead to an
improved processing of
such cases by the
courts.
Τhe
Greek educational system
faces long-standing
challenges. These
include inadequate
allocation of resources,
low autonomy, poor
educational outcomes,
skill mismatches, and
weaknesses in the
governance of higher
education institutions.
In the absence of a
comprehensive prior
evaluation, it is
unclear how the current
policy of upgrading
technical education
institutions to
universities will
improve the fragmented
higher education
landscape or the need to
make tertiary education
more relevant for the
labour market. In this
context, it is recalled
that the 2018 OECD
country review on
Greece ((7)) made
specific policy
recommendations to
improve the quality and
efficiency of the
system.
Product markeTs and
competitiveness
Notwithstanding progress
over the last years,
Greece still faces major
challenges as regards
competitiveness.
This is illustrated in
its stagnating or even
slightly deteriorating
performance in a range
of widely used
competitiveness metrics
(such as the World Bank
Doing Business ranking) ((8)).
An improved business
environment would also
contribute to addressing
the structural component
of sluggish productivity
growth by tackling the
crisis-induced
investment gap, the
emigration of skilled
labour and the still
high long-term
unemployment.
More needs to be done on
export promotion to
reach the authorities’
export/GDP target of 50%
by 2025. The
pace of implementation
of two related action
plans has been mixed.
Efforts should focus on
increasing the
exporters’ base, as well
as the export propensity
of the Greek economy as
a whole. Further work is
also required on
removing unnecessary
procedural impediments
to trade and increasing
the openness of the
economy, including
through the further
streamlining of customs
procedures with the help
of technical support
provided through the
Commission services.
On
the investment licensing
reform, significant work
is underway. Despite
delays in certain areas,
the reform appears to be
broadly on track with
deadlines on specific
investment licensing
commitments for the
outer years (ICT system,
inspections framework
law, extension of
simplification, reform
of nuisance
classification). Whilst
continued efforts to
complete reform
commitments are welcome,
the adequacy of existing
control mechanisms to
contain the risk of
potential policy
reversal remains
uncertain. Greater
engagement of all
stakeholders is needed
to safeguard the
integrity of reforms
implemented thus far and
ensure completion of the
reform in the future.
It
is important to assess
the actual impact of
product market reforms
adopted in recent years
so that they can be
fine-tuned and
strengthened where
needed.An
impact assessment
conducted by the Centre
of Planning and Economic
Research on reforms in
the areas of pharmacies,
over-the-counter drugs
and Sunday retail
trading suggests that
these reforms have
already had a positive
effect on competition
and job creation. The
Centre of Planning and
Economic Research will
provide an updated
impact assessment of
these reforms in
September 2019 and
further, undertake an
impact assessment of
prior reforms affecting
engineers (including
public engineers),
lawyers, and private
clinics.
The cadastre project has
further progressed in
the recent months. The
Commission has taken the
decision to co-finance
with structural funds
the last set of
contracts (about EUR 84
million), and a
technical support is
made available ((9)).
The current round of
declaration of
properties around the
country is progressing
satisfactorily, with an
electronic platform in
place and a sizeable
number of cadastral
offices operating across
Greece. That said,
progress with the
establishment of the
future institutional
framework for the
cadastre has been mixed,
and the government has
committed to strengthen
the team implementing
the migration into the
new Agency and to
prepare a detailed plan
for the integration of
the mortgage offices to
meet the deadlines set
with the advice of the
World Bank.
The preparation of the
forest maps (a mid-2019
commitment) is expected
to be on time. As
of May 2019, forest maps
for 55% of the territory
have been uploaded for
consultation, of which
maps for 41% of the
territory are already
ratified; the maps for
98% of the territory are
expected to be produced
by July 2019. The
remaining 2% of the
country’s forest maps
have been contracted in
May 2019 and will be
finished by February
2020. A recent decision
by the Council of State
raised questions about
the temporary exclusion
of “building
concentrations” from the
forest maps. The
authorities intend to
adopt legislation
swiftly in order to
address the Council of
State’s concerns and
avoid implications for
the timely completion of
the forest maps.
Progress with the
implementation of energy
market reforms has
slowed notably during
the past few months. The
divestiture of PPC’s
lignite plants (a
delayed end-2018
specific commitment) was
relaunched after the
first deadline resulted
in no bids being
accepted. A new timeline
had been agreed which
should close by the end
of June 2019,which
should include a
fairness opinion on any
offers. A unilateral
decision extending the
process deadline to July
15th was made by PPC
following consultation
with the Ministry of
Energy and Environment,
and as such, the closure
will not be made within
the agreed deadline.
Whilst Greece has made
some initial steps
towards the introduction
of the target model for
the electricity market
(mid-2019 specific
commitment), it seems
clear at this juncture
that the go-live of the
intraday, day-ahead and
balancing markets,
already delayed from the
initial plan of April
2019, will not occur
until 2020. These delays
will have knock-on
effects for Greece’s
coupling with the
neighbouring markets of
Italy and Bulgaria.
Meanwhile the NOME
electricity auctions
continued with its
allocated quantities,
and the delays to the
lignite divestiture
meant that a planned
correction mechanism was
not triggered. On a
positive note, PPC’s
market share has slowly
receded to below 77% in
March 2019, down from
80% at the time of the
last enhanced
surveillance report but
still some way off the
original programme
objective of PPC’s
market share going to
below 50% by 2020. The
recently-released 2018
financial results for
PPC show a strong
decline in profitability
and a worsening of cash
flow issues, which calls
for determined efforts
to address structural
issues, including
pricing policy and
arrears collection.
Meanwhile, reforms in
the gas market have
advanced overall, with
the completion of the
sale of the transmission
network operator DESFA
and the split of the gas
supply company DEPA into
commercial and
infrastructure parts,
with a view to preparing
the agreed privatisation
transactions in line
with unbundling
requirements. The
Renewable Energy Source
(RES) account maintained
its surplus, but cash
flow issues remain,
affecting RES producers.
Hellenic Corporation of
Assets and
Participations (HCAP)
and privatIsations
Greece made commitments
to European partners in
June 2018 to continue
and complete the
important work of HCAP,
which gathers under a
single institutional
structure a significant
portfolio of assets and
shareholdings in public
enterprises. The
Eurogroup statement of
June 2018 foresees that
the strategic plan of
HCAP will be implemented
on a continuous basis.
In addition, the
authorities committed to
complete the review, and
replacement if required,
of Board members of all
state-owned enterprises
(SOEs) by mid-2019. The
implementation of the
strategic plan has
proceeded as planned and
the Board review is
progressing well. Up to
the present, HCAP has
appointed 39 Board
members (executive and
non-executive) in its
direct and other
subsidiaries. That said,
in order to ensure that
the process can be
sustained over time in
an effective manner, it
is necessary to ensure
competitive remuneration
of professional Board
members.
Progress has also been
made in improving
corporate governance in
the SOEs that form part
of HCAP. The
implementation of the
coordination mechanism
that governs the
interaction between the
authorities and HCAP
regarding the mandates
and objectives of the
SOEs under HCAP has been
launched and it is at an
advanced stage for the
first four SOEs.
However, recent
legislation and actions
in certain sectors (e.g.
regional airports)
appear to potentially
overlap with the
function of the
coordination mechanism,
or to affect the HCAP’s
rights in respect of
certain assets
transferred to it, which
should be rectified and
avoided going forward.
Implementation of the
Asset Development Plan
is key to stimulate
private investment,
increase efficiency, and
provide financing to the
State. In
June 2018, the
authorities made a
specific commitment to
Eurogroup partners to
implement the Asset
Development Plan, which
will be updated every
six months, and in this
context to complete the
transactions on Hellenic
Petroleum (HELPE) and
the marina of Alimos by
mid-2019. Further
commitments were taken
for end-2019 and beyond.
In addition, the
transaction on
Hellinikon (development
of the site of the
former Athens
International Airport,
end-2018 specific
commitment) has remained
pending despite good
progress, taking into
account the complexity
of the project. On
Hellinikon, the
authorities have
continued the efforts to
complete the conditions
precedent to allow the
transfer of shares to
the preferred investor.
If the authorities
continue the strong
efforts, financial
closing could be
feasible in the coming
months.
Progress on the
transactions in the
Asset Development Plan
which are due to be
completed in 2019 (mid
and end-2019 specific
commitments) is behind
schedule, with progress
in smaller transactions
being offset by delays
elsewhere. The
state of play can be
summarised as follows:
Marina of Alimos:
The preferred bidder was
selected in an e-auction
procedure of April 2019;
progress is satisfactory
although the financial
closing is not expected
before the fourth
quarter of 2019.
The Hellenic Petroleum (HELPE) transaction
is subject to delays as
no binding offers were
submitted for the joint
sale. Agreement has been
reached with the Greek
authorities so that the
Hellenic Republic Asset
Development Fund (TAIPED)
is given the technical
mandate to explore all
options available
towards proceeding with
the transaction.
The sale of 30% of
Athens International
Airport (AIA):
the process remains
stalled in view of
disagreements between
the Greek authorities
and AviAlliance,
shareholder of 40% stake
in AIA, regarding the
corporate governance
rights accompanying the
30% stake post sale. The
Greek authorities
committed to seek an
immediate resolution of
the issue, with a view
to launching the tender
process for the sale of
30% of AIA by end-June
2019.
DEPA – Public Gas
Corporation:
the invitation for the
expression of interest
for the sale of 50% plus
one share of DEPA
Commercial is expected
to be published in the
coming weeks and it
should be in accordance
with the term sheet
agreed between the
authorities and the
European institutions.
The Egnatia transaction
entails the award of a
long-term concession for
the operation and
maintenance of the
motorway and its three
vertical axes. In
January 2019, the
authorities agreed to a
number of actions to
deal with the recurrent
obstacles to the
concession. Most of the
agreed actions due so
far have been
implemented in line with
technical feasibility.
It is imperative that
the authorities complete
all the outstanding
actions needed to allow
the submission of
binding offers to take
place.
Regional Ports:
There is significant
investor interest to
operate specific and/or
combined port
activities/services by
means of sub-concession
agreements in the ports
of Alexandroupolis,
Kavala, (end-2019
specific commitments),
Igoumenitsa and Kerkyra
(mid-2021 specific
commitments). The
Expression of Interest
for the two ports,
however, requires the
prior issuance of a
Joint Ministerial
Decision that will
include the specific
activities subject to
sub-concession as well
as the fees to be paid
by the
sub-concessionaires to
the relevant port
authorities.
public
administration and
justice
Overall, progress has
been made with the
specific mid-2019
commitments in the area
of public sector reform. Regarding
the preparation of an
independent assessment
of the delayed selection
process of
Administrative
Secretaries, the
authorities have
requested technical
support from the
Commission and the final
assessment is expected
to be completed by June
2019, with follow-up
actions due by September
2019; at the same time,
the pace of appointments
of Administrative
Secretaries remains very
slow. The selection
process for all 90
Directors-General has
been completed, while
one third of Directors
have been appointed
(with the rest expected
by end-July), and the
recruitment of Heads of
Division is expected to
be launched by end-June
and completed by
October. The 3rd mobility
cycle that was launched
in August 2018 is
progressing; while the
process is subject to
delays and impediments
should be addressed, the
gradual increase in the
number of entities and
applications for each
cycle is a welcome
signal that the public
sector has embraced this
public administration
reform. The performance
assessment cycle for
2018 is expected to be
completed on time.
Continued progress has
been made towards
establishing an
integrated Human
Resource Management
System, which should be
on track to be completed
by end of 2019. More
specifically, 745
general government
entities (approximately
half of the total) have
completed their digital
organigrams, with close
to 135 000 job
descriptions completed
(i.e. for around 70% of
all positions). Once
this exercise has been
successfully completed,
it will provide the main
elements for the
integrated Human
Resource Management
System.
Progress with the
streamlining of the
existing job
classification system,
with a view to aligning
it to the functions
referred to in the
generic job
descriptions, has been
limited. Whilst
the first meeting of the
inter-ministerial
working group in May was
a welcome first step,
the authorities would
need to speed up the
implementation of its
road map, also taking
full advantage of the
technical support
provided.
Progress has been made
in terms of legal
codification with the
adoption of a law that
strengthens the mandate
of the Central
Codification Committee,
but work on
inter-ministerial
coordination has
stalled. It
is important to clearly
define the operational
modalities of the legal
codification process and
the allocation of roles,
including between the
Central Codification
Committee and the
Ministries. Technical
work for the preparation
of a unified Labour Law
Code and Code of Labour
Regulatory Provisions (a
mid-2020 specific
commitment) has started
but concrete progress is
awaited. On
inter-ministerial
coordination, no
concrete progress has
been reported since the
adoption of an
inter-ministerial manual
in June 2018, and an
update on actions
initiated and planning
for actions to be
launched is expected to
be prepared by the
General Secretariat for
Coordination in time for
the next enhanced
surveillance report.
The European
institutions continue to
carefully monitor the
scale of recruitments in
the public sector. The
hiring plan for 2019 as
well as for 2020-2022,
as included in the 2018
Medium-Term Fiscal
Strategy, seems to be
respecting the
one-in-one-out hiring
rule for recruitments of
new permanent staff in
the public sector,
though the ceiling for
temporary staff has not
been respected in 2018.
It is estimated that the
number of temporary
staff will need to be
reduced by approximately
1 550 persons in 2019,
in order for the overall
size of the public
sector to be maintained.
Regarding effective
monitoring, the agreed
actions to improve the
reporting of the census
are still to be
implemented, while
updated staffing figures
for 2019 are yet to be
uploaded on the census’
website.
Recently adopted salary
provisions pose risks to
the unified wage grid,
and a number of
decisions to complete
this reform remain
pending. Although
the actual fiscal cost
of recent decisions to
expand the coverage of
‘personal differences’
for some Ministries is
small, it raises
structural problems and
fiscal risk as other
Ministries may seek
similar salary
provisions. If specific
salary provisions and
adjustments to the
hiring process for
permanent staff are
being considered for
independent authorities,
it would be preferable
if these provisions
would be part of a
systematic approach
rather than ad
hocexceptions
to the current legal
framework.
The Greek authorities
are proceeding with the
preparatory stage of the
second phase of the
Integrated Judicial Case
Management System,
activated earlier this
year and scheduled for
finalisation by mid-2020.
In this context,
completion of the
tendering procedure for
the electronic filing of
legal documents to the
courts is a mid-2019
specific commitment, and
the proceedings for the
public consultation of
the draft tender texts
regarding the projects
of the second phase are
to be finalised shortly.
Furthermore, the
implementation of the
electronic filing of
court documents (legal
writs), already
available in a number of
courts, is proceeding,
supported by legal and
technical work to
facilitate its full
roll-out.
In
the area of
anti-corruption, the
authorities have
continued their efforts,
led by the General
Secretariat for
Anti-corruption. A
number of legal
initiatives promoted by
the Secretariat are to
be introduced to the
Parliament, relating to
whistleblowing, internal
auditing and the
Secretariat’s mandate.
In particular, the law
on internal audit is
expected to be adopted
shortly and ahead of the
newly elected local
administrations assuming
their function. The
authorities also
committed to accelerate
work on the
establishment of a
coordination mechanism
for corruption cases,
although no concrete
progress has been made
during this reporting
period.
The Commission has
continued to monitor
developments in relation
to the legal proceedings
against the members of
the Committee of Experts
of TAIPED and the former
President and senior
staff of the Hellenic
Statistical Authority (ELSTAT). In
the case against former
ELSTAT President A.
Georgiou related to
charges filed in
connection with fiscal
statistics, the Athens
Court of Appeal issued a
ruling in his favour
that was published on 8
March 2019. As the
Supreme Court Prosecutor
did not file an appeal,
the ruling stands in
force and the excessive
deficit case has been
irrevocably dismissed.
This is a very welcome
development. Regarding
other pending cases, an
appeal introduced by Mr
Georgiou in a defamation
lawsuit is scheduled to
be heard in May 2019.
Regarding the Committee
of Experts, there has
been a positive
development since the
last enhanced
surveillance report, in
the form of the issuance
of an exculpatory ruling
by the chamber formation
of the Athens Court of
Appeal (not yet
published). The
Commission will continue
to closely monitor
developments in both
procedures to report
back in the context of
enhanced surveillance.
Overall assessment of
progress with reform
commitments
Greece is at an
important juncture as
regards policy choices
needed to deliver a
sustained and lasting
economic recovery. Greece
has made a reasonable
start to the post
programme environment
since the expiry of the
ESM programme in August
2018. Real growth and
employment creation has
been maintained, and
Greece once again
overachieved its primary
surplus target in 2018.
Albeit with some delay,
the completion of
specific reform
commitments due for the
end of 2018 allowed the
implementation of
additional debt measures
worth EUR 970 million in
April 2019. Greece has
also started to regain
market access and
benefited from upgrades
from rating agencies.
However, significant
legacy effects of the
crisis remain as
reflected in high levels
of public debt, NPLs and
unemployment. Reducing
these imbalances will
require many years of
sustained implementation
of institutional and
structural reforms
initiated in recent
years to modernise the
economy and the state,
as well as many years of
economic growth.
The pace of reform
implementation has
slowed in recent months
and the consistency of
some measures with
commitments given to
European partners is not
assured. Whilst
there are a few policy
areas where reform
implementation continues
(e.g. some issues
related to the cadastre,
Hellinikon), there is a
risk that most of the 15
specific commitments for
mid-2019 will not be
completed on schedule.
In some cases, such as
reforms in the field of
social welfare
(disability
assessments), public
administration
(appointment of the
Administrative
Secretaries) and energy
(implementation of the
target model), these
delays risk running to
several months The
Commission also
underlines the
importance for the Greek
authorities to take
steps that will enable
ongoing privatisation
tenders (e.g. HELPE,
Egnatia, Athens
International Airport)
to proceed smoothly in
the second half of 2019.
Projections by the
European institutions
indicate that, following
the adoption of fiscal
measures in May 2019,
there are risks to the
achievement of the
agreed primary surplus
target of 3.5% of GDP in
2019 and beyond, as well
as for the compliance
with the medium-term
budgetary objective in
2020. The
quality of the recent
fiscal measures is of
concern given the
objective to make public
finances more
growth-friendly and to
direct a higher share of
social spending towards
groups who face the
highest incidence of
poverty.
Sovereign financing
After the successful
bond issuance in
January, Greece tapped
the markets for a second
time in March 2019. Taking
advantage of the
improving market
environment and a
ratings upgrade, the
Public Debt Management
Agency proceeded with
the issuance of a
10-year government bond
for the first time since
2010, raising EUR 2.5
billion at a re-offered
yield of 3.9% amid
strong demand. Greece’s
yield spreads have since
improved further in
April: the spread
vis-à-vis the German
Bund reached on average
340 percentage points on
the 10-year tenure.
However, in the more
recent period, Greek
bonds experienced
pressure in particular
after the announcements
of new fiscal measures
on 7 May. State cash
reserves stood high at
EUR 24.3 billion at the
end of March; including
the cash reserves of
general government
entities in the Treasury
Single Account, the
reserves reached EUR
33.7 billion.
A
technical update of the
debt sustainability
analysis has been
carried out and a full
update will be
undertaken in autumn
2019. The
baseline scenario shows
the debt remaining on a
downward path, though it
remains above 100% of
GDP until 2048. Greece’s
gross financing needs
will hover around 10% of
GDP until 2032 and
remain around 17% of GDP
at the end of the
forecast horizon. It is
not yet possible to
fully incorporate the
recent fiscal measures
into the DSA as further
analysis is required on
their impact on growth
and more clarity needed
on the orientation of
policies over the
medium-term. But
policies that affect
negatively the primary
balance surplus and
growth potential would
have a negative impact
on the trajectory of
debt.
((1)) Regulation (EU)
No 472/2013 of the
European Parliament and
of the Council of 21 May
2013 on the
strengthening of
economic and budgetary
surveillance of Member
States in the euro area
experiencing or
threatened with serious
difficulties with
respect to their
financial stability,
Regulation (EU)
No 472/2013 of the
European Parliament and
of the Council of 21 May
2013 on the
strengthening of
economic and budgetary
surveillance of Member
States in the euro area
experiencing or
threatened with serious
difficulties with
respect to their
financial stability, OJ
L 140, 27.5.2013, p. 1.
((2)) Commission
Implementing Decision
(EU) 2018/1192 of 11
July 2018 on the
activation of enhanced
surveillance for Greece,
OJ L 211, 22.8.2018, p.
1, and Commission
Implementing Decision
(EU) 2019/338 of 20
February 2019 on the
extension of enhanced
surveillance for Greece.
((3)) https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2019/04/05/eurogroup-statement-on-greece-of-5-april-2019/
((5)) ECB staff
participated in the
review mission in
accordance with the
ECB’s competences and
thus provided expertise
on financial sector
policies and
macro-critical issues,
such as headline fiscal
targets and
sustainability and
financing needs. The
review mission was
preceded by a technical
mission from 1 to 4
April.
((6)) Given that half
of last year’s and the
full amount of this
year’s instalments of
the interest step-up
margin were eligible for
a waiver, the
policy-contingent debt
measures exceptionally
amounted to some EUR 970
million. https://www.esm.europa.eu/press-releases/efsf-approves-reimbursement-and-reduction-step-interest-margin-greece
((7)) Education for a
Bright Future in Greece,
OECD, April 2018
((8)) The challenges
facing the business
environment in Greece
were discussed in the
context of the European
Semester Conference
organised by the
European Commission in
collaboration with the
Foundation for Economic
& Industrial Research (IOBE)
in Athens, in March
2019. https://ec.europa.eu/info/events/integrating-greece-european-semester-policy-framework-2019-mar-20_en
((9)) Commission
Implementing Decision
C(2019)299 of 23.1.2019
approving the financial
contribution to the
major project
«Compilation of the
preliminary cadastral
base-maps and
development of the
cadastral database for
public presentation in
the areas of the 4th
generation of cadastral
surveys» selected as
part of the operational
programme
«Competitiveness,
Entrepreneurship and
Innovation» in Greece.
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