Europaudvalget 2019
KOM (2019) 0540
Offentligt
2059205_0001.png
EUROPEAN
COMMISSION
Brussels, 5.6.2019
SWD(2019) 540 final
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT
Enhanced Surveillance update
Greece, June 2019
Accompanying the document
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION
Enhanced Surveillance update
Greece, June 2019
{COM(2019) 540 final}
EN
EN
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
ABBREVIATIONS
ADEDY: Αθυ α β δκέεβ β θυ ωθ βηκ έωθ Τπαζζάζωθ (Civil Servants' Confederation)
ADMIE: Αθ ιΪλ β κμ δαχ δλδ άμ Μ αφκλΪμ Ηζ ε λδεάμ θΫλΰ δαμ
(Greek Electricity Transmission
System Operator)
AEDIK: Corinth Canal S.A.
AEO: Authorised Economic Operator
AFCOS: anti-fraud coordination service
AFEK: Α κηδεσ Φτζζκ εεαγΪλδ βμ (personal clearance certificate)
AIA: Athens International Airport
AMC: Asset Management Company
ANFA: Agreement on Net Financial Assets
APS: Asset Protection Scheme
ASEP: Αθυ α κ ΢υηίκτζδκ πδζκΰάμ Πλκ ωπδεκτ (Supreme Council for Civil Personnel Selection)
BoG: Bank of Greece
CBD: Consolidated Banking DataCCM: Central Committee of Mediation
CCP: Code of Civil Procedure
CDLF (ΣΠ ): Σαη έκ Παλαεα αγβευθ εαδ αθ έωθ (Consignment Deposits and Loans Fund)
CEO: Chief Executive Officer
CET1: Common Equity Tier 1
CF: Cohesion Fund
CIT: corporate income tax
CO2: carbon dioxide
CoCo: contingent convertible bond
CoEx: Committee of Experts
CoS: Council of State
DAPEEP: δαχ δλδ άμ Αθαθ υ δηωθ Πβΰυθ θΫλΰ δαμ & ΰΰυά ωθ ΠλκΫζ υ βμ (RES Market
Operator)
DEPA: βησ δα πδχ έλβ β Α λέκυ (Public Gas Corporation of Greece)
DESFA: δαχ δλδ άμ γθδεκτ ΢υ άηα κμ Φυ δεκτ Α λέκυ (Natural Gas Transmission System
Operator)
DSA: debt sustainability analysis
DTAs: deferred tax assets
DTCs: deferred tax credits
EBA: European Banking Authority
EBF: Extra Budgetary Funds
EBRD: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
ECB: European Central Bank
EDA Attiki: αδλ έα δαθκηάμ Α λέκυ Α δεάμ (Natural Gas Distribution Company of Attica)
EDP: excessive deficit procedure
EFKA: θδαέκμ ΦκλΫαμ Κκδθωθδεάμ Α φΪζδ βμ (Unified Social Security Fund)
EFSF: European Financial Stability Facility
EIB: European Investment Bank
EKAPY: γθδεά Κ θ λδεά Αλχά Πλκηβγ δυθ Τΰ έαμ (National Central Authority of Health
Procurements)
EKAS: πέ κηα Κκδθωθδεάμ Αζζβζ ΰΰτβμ ΢υθ αιδκτχωθ (pensioners' social solidarity grant)
ELA: emergency liquidity assistance
ELSTAT: ζζβθδεά ΢ α δ δεά Αλχά (Hellenic Statistical Authority)
ELTA: ζζβθδεΪ Σαχυ λκη έα (Hellenic Post)
EMFF: European Maritime and Fisheries Fund
EMU: Economic and Monetary Union
ENFIA: θδαέκμ Φσλκμ Ι δκε β έαμ Αεδθά ωθ (unified property tax)
EOPYY: γθδεσμ Ολΰαθδ ησμ Τπβλ δυθ Τΰ έαμ (national health insurance body)
EPA Attiki: αδλ έα Παλκχάμ Α λέκυ Α δεάμ (Natural Gas Supply Company of Attica)
ERDF: European Regional Development Fund
ERGANI: database of registered employment contracts
i
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
ESA: European System of Accounts
ESKAEN: γθδεσ ΢υηίκτζδκ ΰδα βθ Κω δεκπκέβ β εαδ βθ Αθαησλφω β βμ ζζβθδεάμ Νκηκγ έαμ
(National Council for the Codification of Legislation)
ESM: European Stability Mechanism
ETAA: θδαέκ Σαη έκ Αθ ιαλ ά ωθ Απα χκζκτη θωθ (Independent professionals Social Security Fund)
ETAD: αδλ έα Αεδθά ωθ βηκ έκυ Α (Public Properties Company)
Σ Α P: θδαέκ Σαη έκ πδεκυλδεάμ Α φΪζδ βμ & φΪπαι Παλκχυθ (Single Social Security Fund for
Supplementary and Lump Sum Benefits)
ETMEAR: δ δεσ ΣΫζκμ Μ έω βμ επκηπυθ Α λέωθ Ρτπωθ (Special Duty for Reduction of Gas
Emissions)
ETS: emissions trading scheme
EU: European Union
EYATH A.E.: αδλ έα Ύ λ υ βμ εαδ ΑπκχΫ υ βμ Θ
αζκθέεβμ Α. .(Thessaloniki Water Supply and
Sewerage Company S.A.)
EYDAP A.E.: αδλ έα Ύ λ υ βμ εαδ ΑπκχΫ υ βμ Πλω υκτ βμ A.E. (the Athens Water Supply and
Sewerage Company S.A.)
FDI: foreign direct investment
FEK: Φτζζκ φβη λέ κμ βμ Κυί λθά ωμ (Government Gazette Issue)
GACS: Guarantee on Securitization of Bank Non Performing LoansGAIAOSE: SOE active in the fields
of railway property and rolling stock exploitation, management and development
GAO: General Accounting Office (part of Ministry of Finance)
GDP: gross domestic product
GFN: gross financing needs
GGE: general government entities
GLF: Greek Loan Facility
GSAC: General Secretariat for Anti-corruption
GSCO: General Secretariat for Coordination
GSIS: General Secretariat of Information Systems
HBA: Hellenic Banking Association
HCA: Hellenic Court of Auditors
HCAP: Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participations
HELPE: Hellenic Petroleum
HFED: Hellenic Fund for Entrepreneurship and Development
HFSF: Hellenic Financial Stability Fund
HICP: harmonised index of consumer prices
HR: human resources
IAPR: Independent Authority for Public Revenue
ICT: information and communication technologies
IDIKA: Ηζ ε λκθδεά δαευίΫλθβ β Κκδθωθδεάμ Α φΪζδ βμ Α. . (Government Center for Social
Security Services)
ILIMS: ΟζκεζβλωηΫθκ Πζβλκφκλδαεσ ΢τ βηα Ά εβ βμ λα βλδκ ά ωθ εαδ ζΫΰχωθ (Integrated
Licensing and Inspections Management System)
IMD: International Institute for Management Development
IMF: International Monetary Fund
JMD: Joint Ministerial Decision
KEAO: ΚΫθ λκ έ πλαιβμ Α φαζδ δευθ Οφ δζυθ
(Centre for the Collection of Social Security Debt)
KEK: K θ λδεά πδ λκπά Κω δεκπκέβ βμ (Central Codification Committee)
KEPA: ΚΫθ λκ Πδ κπκέβ βμ Αθαπβλέαμ (Disability certification centre)
KEPE: ΚΫθ λκ Πλκΰλαηηα δ ηκτ εαδ Οδεκθκηδευθ λ υθυθ (Centre of
Planning and Economic
Research)
KPI: Key Performance Indicator
KYSOIP: Governmental Council for Economic Policy
LCR: liquidity coverage ratio
LFS: labour force survey
MAR: Ministry of Administrative Reform
ii
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
MFI: Monetary Financial Institution
MoJ: Ministry of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights
MoF: Ministry of Finance
MREL: minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities
MSS: motor service stations
MTFS: Medium-Term Fiscal Strategy
MTO: medium-term budgetary objective
MW: megawatt
MWh: megawatt hour
NACAP: National Anti-corruption Action Plan
NED: Non-Executive Directors
NFC: non-financial corporation
NOME: Nouvelle Organisation du Marché de l'Electricité (electricity auction)
NPE: non-performing exposure
NPL: non-performing loan
NSJ: National School of Judges
NSRF: National Strategic Reference Framework
OAEE: Ολΰαθδ ησμ Α φαζέ ωθ ζ τγ λωθ παΰΰ ζηα δυθ (Self-employed
Social Security Fund)
OAKA: Οζυηπδαεσ Αγζβ δεσ ΚΫθ λκ Αγάθαμ «΢πτλκμ Λκτβμ (Olympic Athletic Centre of Athens)
OASA:
Ολΰαθδ ησμ Α δευθ ΢υΰεκδθωθδυθ Αγβθυθ (Athens’ public transport company)
OASTH: Ολΰαθδ ησμ Α δευθ ΢υΰεκδθωθδυθ Θ
αζκθέεβμ (Thessaloniki’s public transport company)
OBL: organic budget law
OCC: Operational Coordination Centre
OCW: out-of-court workout mechanism
OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
OGA: Ολΰαθδ ησμ Γ ωλΰδευθ Α φαζέ ωθ (Agricultural Insurance Organization)
OPEKA: Ολΰαθδ ησμ Πλκθκδαευθ πδ κηΪ ωθ εαδ Κκδθωθδεάμ Αζζβζ ΰΰτβμ (Organization of Welfare
Benefits and Social Solidarity)
OPS-SEPE:
ΟζκεζβλωηΫθκ Πζβλκφκλδαεσ ΢τ βηα
-
΢υηα πδγ υλβ βμ λΰα έαμ (Integrated
Information System - Labor Inspectorate)
OSDDY/PP: ΟζκεζβλωηΫθκ ΢τ βηα δαχ έλδ βμ δεα δευθ ΤπκγΫ ωθ / Πκζδ δευθ εαδ Πκδθδευθ
(Integrated Management System for Judicial Cases / Civil and Penal)
OTC: over-the-counter
PCI: European Project of Common Interest
PCR: price coupling of regions
PDMA: Public Debt Management Agency
PFM: public financial management
PIB: public investment budget
PIT: personal income tax
PPC: Public Power Corporation
PRP: Primary Residence Protection
PSO: public service obligation
RAE: Ρυγηδ δεά Αλχά θΫλΰ δαμ (Regulatory Agency for Energy)
RAEM: Ρυγηδ δεά Αλχά πδία δευθ Μ αφκλυθ (Regulatory Authority for Passenger Transport)
RES: renewable energy source
RFA: Relationship Framework Agreement
ROSCO: Rolling-Stock Maintenance Company
SME: small and medium-sized enterprise
SMP: Securities Markets Programme
SOE: State-owned enterprise
SPA: Single Payment Authority
SPV: special purpose vehicle
SRSS: Structural Reform Support Service
SRSP: Structural Reform Support Programme
SSI: social solidarity income
iii
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
SSM: Single Supervisory Mechanism
SSW: Special Secretariat for Water
SUP: Special Urban Planning
TAIPED: Σαη έκ Αιδκπκέβ βμ Ι δω δεάμ Π λδκυ έαμ κυ βηκ έκυ AE (Hellenic Republic Asset
Development Fund)
TEI: Σ χθκζκΰδεσ επαδ υ δεσ Ί λυηα (technical education institutions)
TEN-E Regulation: Trans-European Networks-Energy
TITLOS: swap proceeds securitized in the form of a structured finance vehicle
TLA: Tunnel Licencing Authority
TOMY: Σκπδεά ΜκθΪ α Τΰ έαμ (Primary Health Care Unit)
TSA: Treasury Single Account
UCoA: Unified Chart of Accounts
VAT: value added tax
WWF: World Wide Fund for Nature
iv
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0006.png
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This report is prepared as accompanying document to the Commission's assessment pursuant Article 3(5)
of Regulation (EU) 472/3013 published as Communication from the Commission
Enhanced
Surveillance
Greece, June 2019. It was prepared in the Directorate General Economic and Financial
Affairs, under the direction of Marco Buti, Director General, Carlos Martínez Mongay, Deputy Director
General, Declan Costello, Director and Mission Chief, and the coordination of Paul Kutos, Head of Unit
and Deputy Mission Chief and Milan Lisicky, Deputy Head of Unit.
Contributors:
Chris Allen, Giuseppe Carone, Declan Costello, Fotini Dionyssopoulou, Matteo Duiella, Christos Gofas,
András Hudecz, Alexander Ioannidis, Paul Kutos, Eloïse Lecouturier, Milan Lisicky, Vasileios Maroulis,
Benedetta Martinelli, Vasilis Nikitas, Miguel Angel Otero, Elena Pavlova, Zoltán Petrov, Eleni
Polemidiotou, Nevenka Tosici, Andreas Trokkos, Vasiliki Vasilopoulou, Irene Vlachaki, Rainer Wichern,
Alkistis Zavakou. Assistance was also provided by Fotini Louka and Siofra Mc Donnell.
The European Central Bank (ECB) Staff participated in the drafting of this report 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. Staff of the European Stability
Mechanism (ESM) contributed to the preparation of this report in the context of the ESM's Early Warning
System and in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding of 27 April 2018 on working relations
between the European Commission and ESM. IMF staff participated in the context of its 2019 Article IV
surveillance cycle.
Comments on the report would be gratefully received and should be sent, by mail or e-mail to:
Paul Kutos
European Commission
Unit ECFIN-F-2
CHAR 14/103
B-1049 Brussels
e-mail:
[email protected]
v
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
CONTENTS
Commission Staff Working Document
1.
2.
3.
Introduction
Macroeconomic developments
Fiscal and fiscal-structural policies
3.1.
3.2.
FISCAL POLICY
FISCAL STRUCTURAL POLICIES
3.2.1. Taxation
3.2.2. Revenue administration
3.2.3. Public financial management
3
5
7
9
9
15
15
16
18
4.
Social welfare
4.1.
4.2.
4.3.
PENSIONS
HEALTH CARE
SAFETY NETS
23
23
23
25
5.
Financial sector
5.1.
FINANCIAL SECTOR DEVELOPMENTS
5.1.1. Financial sector overview and financial stability assessment
5.1.2. Financing of the economy
FINANCIAL SECTOR POLICIES
HELLENIC FINANCIAL STABILITY FUND
27
27
27
29
31
36
5.2.
5.3.
6.
Labour and product markets
6.1.
6.2.
LABOUR MARKET
PRODUCT MARKETS AND COMPETITIVENESS
6.2.1. Business environment
6.2.2. Network industries
37
37
38
40
45
7.
Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participations (HCAP) and privatisation
7.1.
7.2.
HCAP
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ASSET DEVELOPMENT PLAN
49
49
51
8.
Public administration and justice
8.1.
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
8.1.1. Appointments of senior management positions
8.1.2. Improving the human resource management in the public administration
8.1.3. Better regulation and coordination
8.1.4. Controlling the size and cost of public sector
JUSTICE
55
55
55
55
56
57
58
8.2.
9.
Sovereign financing and capacity to repay
9.1.
SOVEREIGN FINANCING
61
61
vii
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
9.2.
DEBT SUSTAINABILITY
62
Annex
63
LIST OF TABLES
2.1.
3.1.
3.2.
3.3.
3.4.
3.5.
5.1.
Summary of the main macroeconomic variables
Differences in the Commission 2019 spring forecast and Greece's Stability Programme (% of
GDP)
Measures legislated in May 2019 (% of GDP)
Policy intentions for measures to be adopted in late 2019 (% of GDP)
KPIs of the IAPR (2018-2019)
Arrears clearance plan (actual data until March 2019, in million EUR)
Main financial stability indicators
8
10
11
13
18
20
29
LIST OF GRAPHS
2.1.
4.1.
4.2.
5.1.
5.2.
5.3.
5.4.
5.5.
5.6.
5.7.
6.1.
6.2.
9.1.
9.2.
Real GDP and growth contributions
Pensions and social spending
Evolution of outpatient pharmaceuticals clawback
Bank deposits (left panel) and total borrowing from the Eurosystem (right panel)
Evolution of NPL ratio (left) and NPL stock (right)
Bank credit to non-financial corporations and households
Bank interest rates on new loans
Cumulative number of e-auctions conducted since 29 November 2017
Submitted business applications
Outcome of multilateral negotiations - businesses
Share of uninsured workers found in high-risk sectors. January 2013 - April 2019
Evolution of Greece's export market share
Greece's credit ratings and yield spreads compared to the Bund
62
8
23
24
27
28
30
30
31
34
35
38
39
61
LIST OF BOXES
3.1.
3.2.
6.1.
6.2.
Under-execution of spending ceilings in 2018
The phasing out of ex ante audits performed by the HCA
Assessment of the economic impact of selected product market reforms in pharmacies
and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs
Assessment of the economic impact of reforms affecting Sunday retail trading
14
19
42
43
viii
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
Commission Staff Working Document
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0014.png
1.
INTRODUCTION
Economic developments and policies in Greece are monitored under the regular economic
surveillance framework for euro-area Member States 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 a robust and
sustainable economic growth.
Greece made a general commitment at the Eurogroup of 22 June 2018 to continue and complete
reforms adopted under the ESM programme and to ensure that the objectives of the important
reforms adopted under the financial assistance programmes are safeguarded.
In addition, Greece
made 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 (
3
). Greece reiterated these commitments given to European
partners in the Eurogroup statement of 5 April 2019 (
4
). In this context, 15 specific commitments were
made with a deadline of mid-2019, progress on which is assessed in this report.
This report is based on the findings of a mission to Athens between 6 and 8 May 2019 and regular
dialogue with the authorities (
5
).
The mission was conducted by the Commission in liaison with the
ECB (
6
); 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.
Enhanced surveillance provides a comprehensive framework for monitoring economic
developments and the pursuit of policies needed to ensure a sustainable economic recovery.
To this
end, this report includes an assessment of economic conditions in Greece (chapter 2); an assessment of
implementation of reform commitments given by Greece to the European partners (chapters 3-8); and an
update on sovereign financing conditions and debt repayment capacity (chapter 9). This report is issued
alongside the 2019 spring Semester package that includes an assessment of Greece’s Stability Programme
and the Commission Recommendation for country-specific recommendations to Greece.
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 (the abolition of
the step-up interest rate margin related to the debt buy-back tranche of the European Financial Stability
Facility (EFSF) programme as of 2018 and the restoration of the transfer of equivalent amounts to the
income earned by euro-area national central banks on Greek government bonds held under the Agreement
on Net Financial Assets (ANFA) and the Securities Market Programme (SMP) will be made available to
Greece subject to compliance with its commitments on reform continuity and completion, based on
(
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, 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/media/35749/z-councils-council-configurations-ecofin-eurogroup-2018-180621-specific-
commitments-to-ensure-the-continuity-and-completion-of-reforms-adopted-under-the-esm-programme_2.pdf
(
4
) https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2019/04/05/eurogroup-statement-on-greece-of-5-april-2019/
(
5
) This report is based on information available up to 28 May 2019.
(
6
) 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.
5
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0015.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 1 - Introduction
positive reports under enhanced surveillance. The return of SMP-ANFA income equivalent amounts
would be made available to Greece in semi-annual tranches of some EUR 640 million up to mid-2022.
The waiver of the step-up interest rate margin, for part of the EFSF loans, would reduce interest payments
by some EUR 220 million annually. It would be waived on a semi-annual basis until 2022 and
permanently after 2022. Following the Eurogroup on 5 April 2019, the first tranche of policy-contingent
debt measures
has been completed, inter alia based on 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 (
7
). Given that last year’s full amount and half 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 (
8
).
(
7
) https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/economy-finance/enhanced_surveillance_report_-_greece_april_2019_en.pdf
(
8
)
https://www.esm.europa.eu/press-releases/efsf-approves-reimbursement-and-reduction-step-interest-margin-greece
6
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0016.png
2.
MACROECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS
Greece’s economic recovery is expected to
continue in 2019 (
9
).
Although the last quarter of 2018
showed some deceleration in economic activity, with real GDP decreasing at 0.1% quarter-on-quarter
(seasonally and working-day adjusted), this slight decrease came after strong growth in the third quarter.
The annual growth rate in 2018 came in at 1.9%, which confirms that the recovery is gaining some
momentum. Real GDP growth is forecast to reach 2.2% in both 2019 and 2020, supported primarily by
domestic demand. This forecast does not take into account the possible effects of the fiscal measures
announced in May, which will be assessed in the next fully fledged forecast in the autumn.
Private consumption is forecast to perform well in 2019.
Private consumption has been a steady
contributor to growth in both 2017 and 2018. The consumer sentiment indicator has been on a steady rise
since mid-2018 and in the first five months of 2019 reached levels not seen since beginning of the crisis.
The increase in the statutory minimum wage and the abolishment of the sub-minimum wage is expected
to provide an additional boost to private spending in the short term.
An increase in public consumption may support growth this year.
A decrease of 2.5% in real public
consumption put a drag on growth in 2018. This was the result of continued and large under-spending in
intermediate consumption compared to the budgeted targets. The rule-based forecast for 2019 assumes
that the budget targets will be respected and achieved in 2019, therefore public consumption is expected
to rebound and grow by 3.1% in real terms this year: In practice, and as outlined in chapter 3.1, there are
risks that intermediate consumption may once again fall short of budget targets in 2019, an outcome that
would act as a drag on growth.
Investment is expected to rebound in 2019, but only if the public investment budget is executed in
full, which is not assured.
Real gross fixed capital formation declined by 12.2% in 2018, performing
well below expectations. A large part of this decrease was due to the continued large under-execution of
the public investment budget. Public investment in 2018 declined close to 29% in nominal terms. This
had a negative multiplier effect on corporate investment as well, as many private investment projects are
related to public investments. On a technical note, it is important to highlight that gross capital formation
declined much less than gross fixed capital formation, i.e. the accumulation of inventories was substantial
in 2018 whereas inventories declined in 2017. For 2019, the Commission projects double-digit growth in
investment based on the assumption that the public investment budget will be executed fully and will
support real investment activity: in practice, however, there are considerable risks that the structural
bottlenecks to design and implement public investment projects of adequate quality will materialise again
in 2019 notwithstanding the technical assistance provided by the European Commission to strengthen the
project pipeline. The recovery of residential construction is also expected to strengthen, while corporate
investments may gain momentum once there is more clarity in public policy intentions after the national
parliamentary elections.
Exports may decelerate amid an external slowdown.
The main success story in the macroeconomic
picture of 2018 was the buoyant performance of the export sector. Exports of goods recorded 8.4% real
growth, while exports of services increased by 9.3%. Export performance is expected to moderate in 2019
as the slowdown of the external environment curbs down foreign demand of goods, and the capacity
reserves left for the volume of tourism to increase further are limited. At the same time, exports of goods
and services are still expected 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
since October 2018.
Unemployment has been declining from 20.9% in December 2017 to 18.6% in
October 2018, and has been hovering around that level until February 2019. Employment grew by 1.7%
in 2018 according to the national accounts definition, and by 2% according to the labour force survey.
(
9
)
The Commission’s most recent forecast was published on 7 May 2019: European Economic Forecast, Spring 2019, Institutional
Paper 102, May 2019. https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/european-economic-forecast-spring-2019_en
7
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0017.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 2 - Macroeconomic developments
Employment still showed year-on-year growth of 2.4% in February, though this reflects earlier gains in
employment rather than recent improvements, as the actual level of employment has been on a mildly
decreasing path since mid-2018, as reported in the labour force survey. 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.
Graph 2.1:
Real GDP and growth contributions
5
4
3
%, pps.
For ecast
Private consumption
Public consumption
Investment
Net exports
Chang e in inventories
2
1
0
-1
-2
-3
201 7
201 8
201 9
202 0
202 1
202 2
202 3
Source:
European Commission
Annual inflation reached 0.9% on average in the first four months of 2019.
Price increases are
expected to remain muted throughout the year. Inflation was driven primarily by non-core items, while
core inflation (HICP excluding energy and unprocessed food) remained at 0.6% for this period. Energy
inflation is expected to moderate in the rest of the year, while core inflation is set to increase mildly,
partly due to the ongoing economic recovery and partly due to the inflationary effect of the minimum
wage increase. Inflation is expected to pick up considerably only in the outer years, 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 execution of the general government budget ceilings for
investment and ordinary spending. Should this assumption not hold, both public consumption and
investment may turn out to be significantly lower. Also, the forecast assumes no reform reversals that
may affect business sentiment. While expansionary fiscal measures adopted in May could provide an
additional boost to domestic demand in the near term, there are also risks on the downside. Investment
financing through the banking system may face challenges, should the level of non-performing loans
remain high. Increased labour costs may weigh on firms’ profit margins more than currently expected,
which would further limit business investment. The marked slowdown in foreign demand is currently
expected to have a moderate effect
on Greece’s export performance. In case of an even more pronounced
deterioration in the external environment, or a stronger pass-through to Greece, the recovery may prove to
be more sluggish.
Table 2.1:
Summary of the main macroeconomic variables
Real GDP
Employment growth
Unemployment rate
GDP deflator
Harmonised index of consumer prices
Source:
European Commission
2018
1.9
1.7
19.3
0.5
0.8
2019
2.2
1.5
18.2
1.1
0.8
2020
2.2
1.3
16.8
1.2
0.8
2021
1.9
1.0
15.9
1.5
1.0
2022
1.7
0.7
14.9
1.6
1.8
2023
1.0
0.7
14.2
2.0
2.0
8
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
3.
3.1.
FISCAL AND FISCAL-STRUCTURAL POLICIES
FISCAL POLICY
Greece overachieved the agreed primary surplus target of 3.5% of GDP in 2018.
The general
government headline balance reached 1.1% of GDP in 2018, recording a surplus for the third year in a
row. The primary balance, as per the definition monitored under enhanced surveillance, reached 4.3% of
GDP, i.e. 0.8% above the fiscal target of 3.5% of GDP, after taking into account two large payments that
made use of the fiscal space in 2018: refunds of wages to uniformed personnel and other public officials
following a decision of the Council of State (materialisation of fiscal risks), and a payment of a means-
tested cash transfer to low-income
households (‘social dividend’), neither of which was envisaged in the
initial budget for 2018. The primary balance would have reached 5.2% of GDP in absence of these
payments.
A large proportion of the overachievement is due to continued under-execution of spending ceilings,
notably on public investment.
As analysed in Box 3.1, the main drivers of the over-performance were
lower-than-expected investment expenditure, consumption and social expenditure. For the most part, the
under-execution of expenditure arises due to budget ceilings being set above the actual spending capacity
of individual budgetary units and underlines the need for realistic estimates of costs of new policies and
proper assessments of the state of play on major spending projects underpinning the ceilings. These issues
have occurred for a number of years. The European institutions are supporting the authorities to address
the reasons for the underspending by further improving the budget preparation process, enhancing the
capacity of the General Accounting Office to properly scrutinise budget proposals of the main general
government entities, and to establish a unified approach to budgetary planning by transferring
responsibility for the setting of investment spending targets to the General Accounting Office.
Given the underlying causes, the over-achievement of the primary surplus target in 2018 is not
carried over to 2019 in the fiscal projections of the European institutions.
In line with standard
practices applied to all Member States, the fiscal projections prepared by the European institutions
traditionally assume full execution of the budget ceilings, for a number of reasons. As mentioned above,
the underspending recorded in the past years is largely due to an overstatement of budget ceilings, rather
than objective reasons outside the control of the authorities. Secondly, anticipating underspending and the
resulting fiscal space in the projections could lead to double booking of expenditure. Such practice would
decrease the transparency of the budgetary framework and pose risks to reaching the fiscal targets either
because the initial budget ceilings are used fully or because the authorities adopt additional one-off or
permanent fiscal measures throughout the year. For the reasons outlined above, and also given the need to
take a balanced view of downside risks (see below), the projection of the European institutions is based
on the assumption that budget ceilings are fully executed, with the risk of underspending treated as an
upside ‘risk’ to the forecast.
The Commission 2019 spring forecast, published before Greece’s adoption of a new package of
fiscal measures on 15 May 2019, indicated that the primary surplus target of 3.5% of GDP is met
throughout the forecast horizon.
The projection included measures adopted in the context of the 2019
Budget, most notably the reduction in the ENFIA property tax in 2019; a reduction in social security
contributions for the self-employed, independent professionals and farmers; a gradual decrease in the
corporate income tax rate by 1 percentage point each year in 2020-2023; and the introduction of a new
housing benefit. It also incorporated the cost of the subsidy for the protection of primary residences,
which the authorities project at EUR 150 million in 2019 and EUR 200 million in 2020. The actual cost
of the subsidy may turn out significantly lower both in view of the delays with initiating the scheme and
the possible overestimation of its cost by the authorities. The projection also took into account the expiry
of the current claw-back arrangement in 2022 (on current legislation), which constrains healthcare
spending ensuring that it stays within the agreed ceiling. In terms of the underpinning measures, the
9
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0019.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 3 - Fiscal and fiscal-structural policies
Commission 2019 spring forecast and the fiscal projection presented by the Greek authorities in their
2019 Stability Programme have similar assumptions.
Nevertheless, the primary surplus projected by the Commission in its 2019 spring forecast was
considerably lower than that of the Greek authorities in their Stability Programme sent to the
Commission at the end of April 2019 (
10
).
In their Stability Programme, the authorities forecast a
primary surplus reaching 4.1% of GDP in 2019 and 3.9% of GDP 2020, rising to 4.6% of GDP in 2022.
As shown in Table 3.1, one third of the difference between the projections of the authorities and the
European institutions in 2020 is due to a more favourable forecast of the macroeconomic environment by
the authorities, and another 40% is due to a recent re-allocation of part of the public investment budget
from entities outside general government to financial grants to state-owned enterprises (see below). Other
differences are of smaller magnitude in 2020 and concern mainly
the modelling of Greece’s contributions
to the EU budget, which is currently under assessment.
Table 3.1:
Differences in the Commission 2019 spring forecast and Greece's Stability Programme (% of GDP)
2019
Commission 2019 Spring Forecast
Greece's Stability Programme (Greek authorities)
Differences
Of which:
EIs more prudent macro scenario
Reduction of GG investment
Greece's contribution to the EU: under assessment
Military deliveries: risks in 2019
Indexation of expenditure in medium term
State revenues: 2nd round effects of measures
Remaining differences
Source:
European Commission
2020
3.5
3.9
-0.4
2021
3.7
4.1
-0.4
2022
4.0
4.6
-0.6
2023
3.5
4.2
-0.7
3.6
4.1
-0.5
-0.1
-0.3
0.0
-0.1
0.0
-0.1
0.0
-0.1
-0.2
-0.1
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
-0.2
-0.2
0.0
0.0
-0.1
0.0
0.0
-0.3
-0.1
0.0
0.0
-0.3
0.0
0.0
-0.5
-0.1
0.0
0.1
-0.5
0.1
0.1
The Greek authorities incorporate the underspending observed in previous years in their fiscal
projections with balance-improving effects of 0.3% and 0.2% of GDP in 2019 and 2020,
respectively.
In operational terms, this change was implemented through a re-assignment of part of the
expenditure previously foreseen for investment outside general government to grants to state-owned
enterprises, without adjusting the spending ceilings of the investment budget. Since the authorities assume
these grants will not be used by the state-owned enterprises for additional investment, this accounting
operation has a balance-improving effect in their projections. The European institutions have not received
adequate information neither on the nature nor on the specific recipients of the additional grants, and have
therefore not reflected this in their projection.
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 (
11
). In line with standard practice for all Member States, the
announcement was reflected in the Commission 2019 spring forecast, even if the changes to the
respective tax laws are not yet legislated. As the income tax credit package was fiscally broadly neutral,
the announcement has only a strictly limited impact in the forecast.
(
10
)
The Stability Programme represents Greece’s national medium-term
fiscal plan under Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) 473/2013
of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on common provisions for monitoring and assessing draft
budgetary plans and ensuring the correction of excessive deficit of the Member States in the euro area.
(
11
) See Box 3.1 in the second enhanced surveillance report of February 2019 for a comparative assessment of the structure and
main issues in the Greek tax system.
https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/enhanced-surveillance-report-greece-february-
2019_en
10
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0020.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 3 - Fiscal and fiscal-structural policies
Table 3.2:
Measures legislated in May 2019 (% of GDP)
European institutions
2019
2020
<-0.3, -0.6>
<-0.1, -0.2>
<-0.1, -0.3>
n.a.
-0.4
-0.1
-0.1
-0.2
-0.5
-0.1
-0.4
<-1.2, -1.5>
Greek authorities
2019
0.2
0.0
0.1
n.a.
-0.3
-0.1
-0.1
-0.2
-0.5
0.0
-0.4
-0.6
2020
0.3
0.1
0.2
n.a.
-0.4
-0.1
-0.1
-0.2
-0.5
-0.1
-0.4
-0.6
Instalment schemes
Social security contributions debts
Tax debts
Debts to local governments
VAT rates cuts
Food products (except drinks) moved from 24% to 13%
Electricity and gas moved from 13% to 6%
Food services (except drinks) moved from 24% to 13%
Pensions
Extension of the survivor's pension
Permanent 13th pension
Total impact of measures
<-0.3, -0.6>
<-0.1, -0.2>
<-0.2, -0.4>
n.a.
-0.3
-0.1
-0.1
-0.2
-0.5
0.0
-0.4
<-1.1, -1.4>
Source:
European Commission
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,
introduction of a 13
th
pension and a reversal of an earlier reform of survivors’ pensions. The European
institutions’ estimates of the fiscal cost of these measures vary depending on the take up of the new
instalment schemes and their impact on the existing ones and are higher than that of the Greek authorities
(see Table 3.2). No estimate of the potential fiscal impact of the new instalment scheme for taxes and
local government revenues has been provided to the Greek Parliament. Given that the Commission 2019
spring forecast points to a primary balance of close to 3.5% of GDP up to 2021, the adoption of measures
with a fiscal impact of this magnitude poses a risk for the achievement of the agreed primary surplus
target. 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) of a surplus of 0.25%
of GDP 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.
The permanent fiscal cost of these measures also
absorbs a considerable amount of fiscal space that was envisaged in legislation adopted in 2017 for
growth-enhancing reductions in labour and corporate tax rates. In more detail, the adopted measures are
as follows:
New instalment schemes to settle debts on taxes, social security contributions and payments to
local governments (estimated fiscal cost ranging from 0.3-0.6% of GDP in 2019).
These schemes
contrast a key reform enacted in 2013, which replaced all former settlement schemes by a single
‘basic’ scheme used for tax debt collection as well as for social security debt collection. The basic
scheme is accessible only to viable and liquidity constrained taxpayers, with eligibility assessed prior
to entering the scheme. For big debtors, the basic scheme requires a third party assessment of the
viability of the debt schedule and collateral. It offers no reduction of past surcharges. The new
schemes will provide the possibility to clear debts in up to 120 monthly instalments, instead of only
12 in the basic scheme, and largely without an assessment of the ability to pay. The opening of new
schemes six years after the basic scheme was put in place creates legitimate expectations that new
schemes will be opened again in the future, and thus raises critical concerns about payment
11
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0021.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 3 - Fiscal and fiscal-structural policies
discipline (
12
). The European institutions’ estimates are based upon the impact of previous instalment
schemes; they take into account upfront losses expected due to a large proportion of persons and legal
entities moving from existing instalment schemes to the new and more generous one, which are likely
to be larger than the revenue generated by the inflow of persons and entities that have not started to
clear their debts to the government yet. See section 3.2.2 for further analysis.
Lower VAT rates for food products, restaurants and food services, electricity and gas (estimated
fiscal cost of 0.4% of GDP).
This measure alters an important reform of the VAT system adopted in
July 2015 to secure the agreement on the ESM stability support programme for Greece. The reform
aimed to reduce the VAT gap by eliminating VAT exemptions and limiting the application of reduced
rates. The newly adopted measure leaves in place the very high 24% standard rate (5
th
highest in the
EU) while further expanding the scope of the reduced rates. This will increase the VAT gap, which is
already the 2
nd
highest in the EU. See section 3.2.1 for further analysis.
Introduction of a permanent 13
th
pension and relaxation
of eligibility criteria for survivors’
pensions (estimated fiscal cost of 0.5% of GDP).
These measures partially alter measures adopted in
November 2012 and in 2016 respectively. The new 13
th
pension will be paid once a year at a level of
30%-100% of current pensions (the highest percentage for pensions below EUR 500 per month and
the lowest for pensions above EUR 1
000 per month). Regarding the survivors’ pensions, the reform
increases the generosity of the pension to 70% (up from 50%) and eliminates the time limit for
drawing on the pension (currently 3 years for persons below 50 years of age). Furthermore, the
number of married years for eligibility is reduced from 5 to 3. See section 4.1 for further analysis.
Overall, this reform will increase public spending on pensions
which is already the highest in the EU
as a share of GDP
and is in contrast to measures adopted in the 2019 budget which direct a higher
share of spending on social benefits towards young people and the working-age population who face
much higher risks of poverty (
13
).
In addition to the measures outlined above, the Greek authorities announced their intention to
adopt a set of additional measures for 2020.
These are policy intentions to be enacted in autumn 2019
in the context of the 2020 budget and will not be legislated now. These include reductions in tax rates, as
well as the introduction of a series of exemptions and tax expenditures (see Table 3.3). 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. 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 that 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.
(
12
) Note that the authorities introduced in 2014 and 2015 (outside the programme framework) two new temporary schemes for both
taxes and social security contributions, which are already closed for new inflows of debt but account for 40%-50% of debt
under settlement. The experience after the introduction of the 2015 scheme supports the expectation that participants in earlier
settlement schemes would transfer to the new more generous scheme.
13
( ) See box 3.1 in the first enhanced surveillance report of 21 November 2018.
https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/economy-
finance/enhanced-surveillance-report-greece-november-2018_en.
12
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0022.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 3 - Fiscal and fiscal-structural policies
Table 3.3:
Policy intentions for measures to be adopted in late 2019 (% of GDP)
Greek
authorities
2019
Cut in reduced VAT rate from 13% to 11%
Reduction in Solidarity Contribution Contribution
Deductability of mortage interest for first residence from PIT
Lower PIT for islands with population below 3,100
Super-depreciation of investment
Extension of subsidy to social contributions for young employees
Extension of subsidy for heating oil for mountainous areas
Reduction of income tax for partnerships to 10%
Discount of 10% of taxable income for agricultural cooperatives
Total impact of measures
Source:
European Commission
2020
-0.3
-0.1
0.0
0.0
-0.1
-0.1
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
-0.6
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
Greece’s public finances continue to face
important fiscal risks with respect to ongoing court cases.
The Council of State, Greece’s highest court, is yet to issue final decisions on the constitutionality of the
past pension reforms and the elimination of seasonal bonuses to civil servants. 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. The refunds of wage cuts to uniformed personnel made in 2018 following an earlier
decision of the Council of State were covered by a reallocation of resources from unused expenditure
appropriations at the end of 2018, once it was possible to quantify the expected size of underspending.
Should risks materialise, covering them from under-executed spending ceilings will likely become
difficult this year in view of the likely slippage against the fiscal target. In the event of court rulings
overturning key structural elements of reforms agreed under the financial assistance programmes, the
recurrent fiscal implications of such rulings should be largely addressed by actions within the same policy
area.
Risks related to the broadening of the scope of exemptions from the unified wage grid have partly
materialised and remain a source of concern.
Following the decision in October 2018 to exempt
certain officials at the Ministry of Finance from the unified wage grid, the exemption was extended to the
Ministry of Economy and Development in March 2019, with a retroactive application from September
2018. While the cost of this measure is relatively contained, it increases the likelihood of legal challenges
by other groups of public officials on reason of equal treatment and/or of a unilateral decision of other
general government entities to extend these exemptions on an ad hoc basis. Establishing a unified wage
grid was one of the key reforms implemented under the financial assistance programmes. It thus forms
part of the commitment to safeguard the objectives of such reforms that the authorities made to their
European partners in June 2018. See section 8.1.4 for further analysis.
13
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0023.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 3 - Fiscal and fiscal-structural policies
Box 3.1:
Under-execution of spending ceilings in 2018
This box provides an assessment of the fiscal outturn of 2018 in comparison to the budget for that year adopted
in December 2017.
The outturn for the primary surplus of 2018 was significantly higher than envisaged in the budget.
While the budget targeted a primary surplus (in the definition monitored under enhanced surveillance) of 3.8%
of GDP, the outturn calculated by the European institutions on the basis of data notified to Eurostat reached
4.3% of GDP, i.e. by 0.5% of GDP higher. However, the actual over-performance would have been even
higher without two specific transactions not foreseen in the budget: refunds of wages to uniformed personnel
and other public officials following a decision of the Council of State and a payment of a social dividend. The
primary balance would have reached 5.2% of GDP in absence of these payments, giving rise to an over-
achievement of 1.3% of GDP or EUR 2.5 billion.
As shown in Table 1 below, the main driver of the over-achievement was public expenditure falling well
below initial plans
both for investment and ordinary spending.
The overall contribution of general
government revenue to the over-achievement was just about 0.1% of GDP, excluding the role of payments
received from the EU on co-funded projects, which is netted from the spending on these projects on the
expenditure side. More than 90% of the over-performance is therefore attributable to under-execution of
general government expenditure. The single biggest contributor was investment that was expected to be
carried out directly by ministries (as opposed to other subsectors of general government),
where the ‘net’ size
of underspending reached 800 million (0.4% of GDP). This is after removing the shortfall on projects co-
funded by the EU, which was reflected in lower revenues received from the EU and is therefore neutral to the
balance. Before
this, the ‘gross’ underspending compared to initial plans reached EUR 2 billion, while
revenues received from the EU were EUR 1.2 billion below expectations. Other main drivers of the
underspending included ordinary expenditure of the state budget and pensions, mainly lump sum benefits.
Table 1:
Differences between fiscal outturn and plan (+ = higher revenues or underspending) in 2018
Budget
m EUR
Primary surplus
Fiscal space used before the end of the year
Social dividend
Wage refunds based on a court decision (net)
Primary surplus before use of fiscal space
Of which:
Investment expenditure, net of EU funds revenue
State budget
Extrabudgetary funds, SOEs, municipalities etc.
Other expenditure
State budget
Operational exp., benefits, subsidies
Contingency reserve
Social security funds
Other subsectors
Revenue, net of EU funds
3 435
1 066
2 369
67 864
20 073
19 073
1 000
38 239
9 552
78 334
1.9
0.6
1.3
36.7
10.9
10.3
0.5
20.7
5.2
42.4
2 319
258
2 061
66 709
19 253
18 583
670
37 723
9 733
78 547
1.3
0.1
1.1
36.1
10.4
10.1
0.4
20.4
5.3
42.5
1 116
808
308
1 155
820
490
330
516
- 181
213
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.6
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.3
-0.1
0.1
7 035
0
0
0
7 035
% GDP
3.8
0.0
0.0
0.0
3.8
m EUR
7 928
1 591
769
822
9 519
Outturn
% GDP
4.3
0.9
0.4
0.4
5.2
m EUR
893
1 591
769
822
2 484
Difference
% GDP
0.5
0.9
0.4
0.4
1.3
Source:
European Commission
The main underlying reasons for the expenditure shortfalls are as follows:
The investment budget, where most of the underspending arises, is separated from the budget for
ordinary expenditure, a situation that has been remedied in most EU Member States, even if specific
aspects of their integration differ across countries.
In practice, this ‘dual budgeting’ approach implies
efficiency losses and redundancies, as the priorities for the two budgets are not sufficiently coordinated,
and lack of external scrutiny on the realism of the plans underpinning the budget. The situation is made
worse by the fact that the ‘investment’ budget includes many ordinary expenditures, on the basis of them
being (potentially) eligible for co-funding from the EU.
(Continued on the next page)
14
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0024.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 3 - Fiscal and fiscal-structural policies
Box (continued)
The budgeting for ordinary expenditure follows a transparent process envisaged in the Organic
Budget Law (OBL) but the checks and balances envisaged in the OBL are performed rather in a
formalistic manner.
The current resources and sectoral knowledge of the General Accounting Office,
which is part of the Ministry of Finance and coordinates the budgeting process for ordinary expenditure,
do not allow exercising proper scrutiny over the budgetary plans proposed by line ministries. For instance,
the General Accounting Office is not providing independent estimates of the cost of their policy plans.
Moreover, the budget includes ‘non-allocated’ appropriations on top of the contingency
reserve that are
allocated only during the year and often end up under-executed.
A related issue is the low precision of costing of new policy plans and mandatory expenditure.
A
case in point is the subsidy for the protection of permanent residences, where the subsidy that existed until
2018 was repeatedly budgeted but never actually used. The cost of the new subsidy that is part of the
revised framework seems to be overestimated again. Other examples include
the ‘transport equivalent’
subsidy (funded from the investment budget) and the cost of new active labour market policies, both of
which have been systematically overestimated. Regarding mandatory expenditure and more specifically
pensions, well-founded models have been developed by the responsible ministry but these factor in
sizeable buffers that could be identified to free up the fiscal space for growth-enhancing policies. While
pockets of best practices regarding fiscal modelling exist in the public administration (e.g. the Council of
Economic Advisors), a proper allocation of limited resources requires building up the capacity directly at
the General Accounting Office, which has the responsibility over the budget preparation process.
Under-execution of budget ceilings seems to be also supported by specific budgetary rules that were
introduced in the past to fight over-spending. For instance, the budget for the next year is prepared on the
basis of the budget adopted for the current year, without assessing whether the budget targets were met in
the previous years (or in the first half of the current year) and without scrutinising the reasons for the
underspending. It is to be noted that the forecast-related provisions of the 2011/85 Budgetary Frameworks
Directive (Article 4, paragraph 1) call for basing budgetary planning on the most up-to-date information,
which would imply, in principle, to include the within-the-year data on budgetary execution into the
information set when drawing up expenditure plans for the next year.
The authorities are encouraged to tackle the root causes for the underspending.
Mindful of the fact that
improving a situation to a satisfactory level may take several years, the European institutions have invited the
authorities to develop a scoping note for an ambitious action plan, which should mainly include the following
elements: a) improving the budget preparation process, b) enhancing the capacity of the General Accounting
Office (staffing, training, resources) to properly scrutinise budget proposals by main budgetary units, and c)
establishing a unified approach to budgetary planning by transferring responsibility for the setting of
investment spending budget to the General Accounting Office. Implementation of the plan will require close
cooperation of a number of stakeholders most notably the General Accounting Office and the General
Directorates for Financial Services of line ministries.
3.2.
FISCAL STRUCTURAL POLICIES
3.2.1. Taxation
Whilst Greece has made progress in the reform of ENFIA property tax valuation, though
preparations for a mid-2019 realignment of property values have not yet been completed.
The
valuation reform aims at fully aligning property tax zonal values with market prices by 2020, thus
widening the tax base and improving the efficiency and fairness of the tax. Considerable progress has
been made in staffing the newly set up valuation unit and in developing the tools for valuations. Two key
IT projects have been initiated to map electronically zonal boundaries and to systemise the collection of
real estate data. The legal framework for the new system of property valuation by professional real estate
values was established by an amendment in Law 4587/2018. Following an independent quality
assessment exercise of the results of the last year's nationwide valuation exercise, it was agreed that a new
nationwide valuation exercise by valuers was not needed in 2019. However, the results of the independent
exercise highlighted the need to extend the market valuation system beyond the existing property value
zones and also the need to improve the valuation of commercial properties.
15
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0025.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 3 - Fiscal and fiscal-structural policies
As an intermediate step towards full alignment of property tax values with market prices in 2020,
the authorities have been working towards a partial realignment in 2019.
The aim would be to align
property tax values by 50% of the remaining difference from market prices this year, in the context of a
two-step approach. To this end, the authorities would still need to prepare the detailed timetable for the
update to take place and the associated fiscal analysis of the realignment exercise that would allow the
setting of revenue neutral tax rates and thresholds. The next ENFIA property tax bills will need to be sent
out in July 2019.
The changes to VAT rates adopted in May 2019 alter ESM programme reforms of 2015 aimed at
reducing the VAT gap by limiting the application of the reduced rates.
The newly adopted measure
leaves in place the very high 24% standard rate (5th highest in the EU) while further expanding the scope
of the reduced and super-reduced rates. This will likely increase the VAT gap, which is already the 2nd
highest in the EU. In addition, the parallel lower VAT rate structure still remains in force in a limited
number of Aegean islands.
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.
3.2.2. Revenue administration
The hiring of staff to the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (IAPR) remains slow, with
only a marginal increase observed during the first quarter of 2019 (from 11 487 to 11 534) and
significantly lower than the specific commitment for the end of 2019 (12 500).
A positive
development during this reporting period was the publication by the Supreme Council for Civil Personnel
Selection (ASEP) of the final list with successful candidates for the recruitment of tax/customs officials
(546 posts). Further, the complementary measures adopted in the context of the last enhanced surveillance
round included legal provisions to facilitate the transfer of staff to the IAPR from the mobility scheme,
which is expected to have a positive impact for the ongoing and future mobility cycles. The most recent
hiring plan submitted by the IAPR expects that the staffing will have reached 12 396 by end of 2019,
which would require a significant acceleration compared to the hiring trend of the previous 12 months.
A number of complementary measures were adopted earlier in the year to ensure the continued
strengthening of the IAPR's capacity, and specific follow-up actions on these measures are expected
to be completed during the next months.
First, as concerns the reform of Human Resources, the IAPR
is expected to submit a request the Legal Council of State on the planned supplementary wage grid and to
adopt the secondary legislation required to establish a supplementary grading scale. Second, the IAPR is
to establish an Executive Committee to oversee the implementation of the various actions/projects that are
part of the IAPR's strategy document ("Blueprint", 2019-2022). Third, as concerns the 'IT envelope'
agreement between the General Secretariat of Information Systems and the IAPR, while the budget has
been established, the funds are yet to be secured.
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, including proceeding
with the preparations for the tender on fuel markers with the Expression of Interest published in May
2019. As concerns the Operational Coordination Centre that aims to coordinate the services involved in
the fight of smuggling of excise goods, a law amendment relating to the Centre's internal rules (e.g.
duration of secondment from the various services) would need to be adopted without delay, in order not
to risk reducing its operational capacity. Continued progress is being made in promoting electronic
payments, with the action plan being updated to include specific milestones to be achieved until mid-
2020. On the other hand, the asset registry, a commitment included under Greece's growth strategy and
expected to be adopted by end of 2018, has not been completed. Finally, a recently adopted law
amendment (
14
) extending the General Secretariat of Information Systems' mandate to develop and
manage IT systems relating amongst other to traceability of tobacco products raises potential overlaps of
(
14
) Article 233, Law 4610/2019 (OJ A 70/7.5.2019)
16
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0026.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 3 - Fiscal and fiscal-structural policies
responsibilities with the IAPR. It is therefore essential that a cooperation framework is agreed to ensure
that the IAPR has full and easy access to the needed information.
The results for the first quarter of 2019 on tax collection and other key performance indicators
(KPIs) set by the IAPR presents a mixed picture.
Overall the tax collection target has not been fully
met, as EUR 923 million were collected compared to a target of EUR 970 million. Although the target for
collection of debts by the Large Debtor Unit has been met (EUR 200 million collected compared to a
target of EUR 185 million), actual collection during the same quarter of 2018 had been close to 15%
higher (EUR 235.2 million). Possible reasons for the weaker than expected tax collection could include an
extension granted by the Ministry of Finance concerning withheld income tax and the announcements of
new instalment schemes adopted on 15 May 2019. On the other hand, KPIs in most other areas, including
collection after audits, are being met, although, as concerns audits, improvements are needed to meet the
target on the share of the so-called "fresh" tax audit cases, which is expected to increase in comparison to
the overall number of audits carried out (see Table 3.4).
The single centre for the collection of social security debt (KEAO) continues to meet its targets for
the collection of social security debt.
The targets set for 2019 are more ambitious than for the preceding
year and rather close to the actual collection achieved during 2018. For the first quarter of 2019, the target
was an overall collection of EUR 299 million and the actual collection exceeded this target as EUR 312
million were collected. However, it is noteworthy that the debt collection in April 2019 was significantly
lower than the corresponding month in 2018 (13.17%) and a plausible reason could be the announcement
of a new instalment scheme concerning social security contribution debt. As concerns the strengthening
of joint actions between the IAPR and the KEAO, secondary legislation that will allow the KEAO to
consider directly applying the IAPR’s classification of the persons/entities
considered to have
'uncollectable' debt remains pending and should be adopted without delays. Further, the KEAO is
undertaking a re-organisation, mainly consolidating its regional offices, and is also taking steps to fill the
vacant posts (currently 450 out of 700 posts are filled), in order to further enhance its capacity. Finally,
the KEAO is currently reviewing the collection tools available, in particular how to more efficiently
target strategic defaulters, in order to present concrete suggestions during the next months.
Finally, the authorities adopted three new instalment schemes for tax, social security and municipal
debts with up to 120 monthly instalment schemes (
15
).
The scope of the social security debt (
16
) was
more targeted as its main focus was on the self-employed and also linked future contributions to amount
paid. In contrast, the instalment scheme on taxation (
17
) did not include any specific prioritisation for the
physical persons with outstanding debt as of end of 2018 (e.g. include a maximum threshold for assets
and/or differentiate number of instalments depending on type of debt owed). Also participation is not
conditional on any viability assessment. The potential fiscal impact of the adopted schemes is analysed in
section 3.1.
(
15
) Law 4611/2019 (OJ A 73/17.5.2019)
(
16
) Online platform through EFKA's website was launched on 22 May 2019 and the deadline to submit applications is set for end of
September 2019.
(
17
) Online platform through IAPR's website was launched on 21 May 2019 and the deadline to submit applications is set for 28
June 2019.
17
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0027.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 3 - Fiscal and fiscal-structural policies
Table 3.4:
KPIs of the IAPR (2018-2019)
Q1 2019
Target
KPI 1
Debt collection
KPI 2
KPI 3
Collection of tax debts as of the end of the previous
year (EUR millions)
Collection of new debts in the current year (percent
of new debt in the year)
Collection of debts by Large Debtor Unit (EUR
millions)
Percent of fresh tax audit cases in total completed
audits
Collection after audits in the year (percent of
assessed tax and penalties)
Collection after audits in the year (percent of
assessed tax and penalties)
Percent of VAT tax refund claims processed within
90 days
Percentage of total tax paid on time for VAT,
Income and Property taxes
Percentage of debtors under enforcement
measures
Percentage of cases closed by explicit decision of
the DRU
Prosecution audits by Mobile Units (Customs
Administration)
970
16.2%
185
70.0%
40.0%
40.0%
95.0%
81.5%
Result
924
15.2%
200
54.7%
104.0%
1096.6%
94.1%
82.2%
Q1 2018
Results
985
12.5%
235
53.7%
56.8%
140.6%
66.9%
79.7%
Audits of fresh tax cases by the whole
IAPR
Tax audits and collection of large tax
payers
Tax audits and collection of high
wealth individuals
Tax refunds
Compliance and enforcement
Percentage of total tax paid on time
for VAT, Income and Property taxes
Pre litigation phase
Prosecution audits by Mobile Units
KPI 4
KPI 5
KPI 6
KPI 7
KPI 8
KPI 9
65.0%
66.0%
64.5%
KPI 10
KPI 11
70.0%
4 550
95.6%
4 374
96.6%
7 622
Source:
IAPR
3.2.3. Public financial management
Arrears
The Greek authorities have committed to clear the stock of arrears, to avoid the accumulation of
new arrears (continuous action) and to complete the implementation of reforms identified by the
Hellenic Court of Auditors (HCA) 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 remaining stock of arrears as of end-March 2019 still needs to
be cleared.
The arrears clearance process saw only limited progress since end-August 2018.
The end-March
2019 (
18
) stock of net arrears stood at EUR 1.4 billion; and while it is EUR 0.3 billion lower than the end
of programme (August 2018), it is the same level as at end-December 2018. This indicates that despite the
efforts to tackle structural weaknesses in the public financial management, new arrears continue to be
created. Programme financing and own resources continue being used to clear arrears. Of the total
EUR 7 billion disbursed for arrears clearance during the programme, EUR 0.1 billion remain unused by
end-April 2019. In the same period, the authorities have used more than four times the disbursed amount
to clear arrears from own resources, much of this amount allocated to the clearance of new arrears, which
have continued to be created.
(
18
) Latest available data at the cut-off date of the report.
18
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0028.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 3 - Fiscal and fiscal-structural policies
Box 3.2:
The phasing out of ex ante audits performed by the HCA
The ex ante audit of the state expenditures constituted until recently a crucial component of the
payment process, since no payment could be completed unless its legality and its regularity was
validated by two independent bodies, Ministry of Finance (MoF)
GAO and the Hellenic Court of
Auditors.
The abolition of ex ante audits in the Organic Budgetary Law (art 31) in 2015 under the ESM
programme was designed to streamline the process with an overall objective of reducing the time
required for payments to be processed and executed and alleviating administrative cost. This would
act as a major contribution to arrears reduction.
The authorities carried out the first part of the reform for line Ministries successfully in January
2017. The creation of General Directorate for Financial Services allowed line Ministries to fully
assume responsibility for the whole expenditure chain, from budgeting to commitment and then to
payment.
GAO carried out the first part of the reform for line Ministries successfully in January 2017. The
creation of General Directorates for Financial Services allowed line Ministries to fully assume
responsibility for the whole expenditure chain, from budgeting to commitment and then to payment.
Two additional years (until January 2019) were granted to hospitals, Extra Budgetary Funds (EBFs)
and local government to make appropriate arrangements to phase out of ex ante audits. Nevertheless,
the authorities were not fully ready to implement the phase-out reform even by the extended deadline
and they initially postponed the implementation of the reform until the end of the year.
Following consultations with the institutions and the concerned entities, it was agreed to implement
immediately the reform for hospitals and OPEKA (responsible for the payment of social benefits)
and to implement the full phasing out of ex ante audits in local government and EBFs from 31 July
2019.
In addition, to remedy problems stemming from the abolition of ex-ante audits by the HCA and to
streamline payment processes, some further important actions in local government, EBFs and
hospitals were agreed to be undertaken.
On the hospital side, the financial liability regime for accountants was amended(
1
) and an action
plan is being developed to take specific actions in the hospitals in which serious increases in
arrears have arisen. The full roll out of the central procurement system for public hospitals
(EKAPY) would be another major step forward in the arrears creation process management.
EKAPY has initiated the process to considerably enhance its capacity by hiring 23 additional
permanent staff by the end of the year.
On local governments, the Ministry of Interior has issued instructions on internal auditing
procedures and resources since August 2018. However, not all local governments were prepared
to abolish the ex-ante audits performed by HCA as of January 2019, mainly due to lack of
resources in the smaller local governments. To this end, the Ministry of Interior has initiated a
hiring process through the Supreme Council for Civil Personnel Selection (ASEP) of 118
permanent positions in small municipalities. The announcement of the preliminary list of
appointees is expected by August while the final results are expected by the end of the year. In
the meantime, local governments can hire the appointees under temporary contracts.
Furthermore, staff will be provided with targeted training seminars aiming at enhancing their
expertise on payment processes.
(
1
) (GG A' 70/7.5.2019 - Article 230)
(Continued on the next page)
19
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0029.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 3 - Fiscal and fiscal-structural policies
Box (continued)
On EBFs, the authorities have identified the main weaknesses stemming from the abolition of ex-
ante audits by HCA and developed a list of actions to tackle the problems. The main issues relate
to insufficient resources, lack of expertise and in some cases the organisational structure of the
entities. The actions focus on addressing the lack of staff through the mobility scheme, organising
trainings and restructuring the entities’ financial services and organisational charts.
The authorities are currently implementing structural measures to address the bottlenecks of
arrears management.
The measures are based on the recommendations issued by the Hellenic Court of
Auditors (HCA) following its audit on arrears in May 2018, which are of a structural nature. To this end,
two action plans were prepared, in the fields of responsibility of GAO and the IAPR respectively.
According to the latest available information, around one third of the measures mentioned in the IAPR
action plan are fully completed and about another one third are very close to be completed. Some of the
actions mentioned in GAO’s
action plan are completed while some are under development or in the very
first phase of implementation. The overall implementation of the reforms in both action plans will be
assessed in mid-2019 in the context of a follow-up audit by the HCA.
The authorities committed to provide a full arrears clearance plan
with complementary actions
targeting the structural sources of arrears creation. The plan shows that the authorities would clear on
average EUR 185 million per month between April and August 2019, leaving arrears of slightly below
EUR 0.5 billion one year after the end of the ESM programme. The majority of the remaining arrears
belong to social security funds, pension claims and local governments. Even though the remaining stock
in August 2019 would be substantially lower, the authorities will need to continue clearance and avoid the
creation of new arrears.
Table 3.5:
Arrears clearance plan (actual data until March 2019, in million EUR)
Aug-18
Total gross arrears
o/w new accumulation (inflows)
o/w clearance (outflows)
with programme funds
with own funds
Total adjustments
Total net arrears
Monthly change in total net arrears
Breakdown of net arrears
State
Local Government
EBFs
Hospitals
Social Security Funds
Pension claims
Tax refunds
Stuck ESM programme financing
Monthly change in stuck financing
92
263
249
-1
683
192
219
1 190
746
48
200
255
0
504
180
204
237
- 303
49
203
259
0
466
194
215
225
- 12
45
217
256
4
455
196
202
130
- 95
80
247
243
56
436
205
128
70
- 60
61
215
164
52
407
199
66
57
- 13
39
140
160
0
372
188
37
32
103
119
0
301
166
24
12
103
67
0
240
144
2
5
103
44
0
193
122
2
3 588
1 285
-1 039
- 177
- 862
1 891
1 697
- 263
Dec-18
2 510
948
-1 482
- 303
-1 179
1 119
1 391
- 174
Jan-19
2 542
671
- 639
- 12
- 627
1 157
1 385
-6
Feb-19
2 606
772
- 708
- 58
- 650
1 231
1 375
- 11
Mar-19
2 617
837
- 827
- 105
- 722
1 221
1 395
21
1 165
- 231
935
- 229
745
- 190
568
- 178
469
- 99
Apr-19
May-19
Jun-19
Jul-19
Aug-19
Figures from April 2019 are the authorities’ projections according to their clearance plan.
Source:
European Commission
To further streamline payment processes and facilitate arrears clearance, the authorities are also
working on the following measures:
Although consignments can be opened at the Consignment Deposits these are not recognized by
standing Organic Budgetary Law (OBL) provisions as a means of payment. An amendment will allow
entities to open consignments for obligations they cannot repay for reasons beyond their powers (e.g.
because the beneficiary has not responded to the entity’s notifications) and delete these obligations
from their books. It would indeed allow entities to pay their obligations while protecting the
20
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0030.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 3 - Fiscal and fiscal-structural policies
beneficiaries’ interests. As a result, large amounts of obligations will be deleted from the stock of
arrears, hence allowing the entities to focus on the management of their remaining obligations. The
authorities plan to issue primary and secondary legislation by September 2019, with the provisions
implemented by November 2019.
The provision of specific instructions to entities in order to clarify the process and the requirements
for issuing settlement vouchers for cases where the amount corresponding to some obligation has
already been seized from the entity’s bank account as a result of a court ruling. The OBL already
provides for such a treatment, but this possibility is rarely used by entities. The authorities plan to
issue the relevant Ministerial Decisions following discussion with the entities by the end of the year,
with the provisions implemented as of January 2020.
A legal amendment whereby the mandatory upload of commitments’ revocation and re-assumption
in
the “Diavgeia” website
in the beginning of each fiscal year will be made
en masse
in order to
streamline procedures and reduce the excessive administrative burden that leads to a slowdown in
normal clearance and payment of obligations in the first months of the year. Currently, both processes
have to take place for every single commitment, significantly increasing the administrative workload.
The authorities plan to amend the Presidential Decree by September 2019, with the first
implementation of the new provisions as of January 2020.
A decision has been signed by the Governor of the IAPR to eliminate the need for a separate
administrative process performed by a tax refund beneficiary before legal entities can clear arrears
related to tax refund. This arrangement created additional administrative burden to the IAPR, while it
also directly led to creation of arrears in cases where the beneficiaries would delay to submit their
application.
In order to address the administrative capacity problem in the clearance plan for lump sums
(ETEAEP), the Ministry of Labour is going to amend the legal framework in the coming weeks in
order to allow for the swift payment of arrears in the form of temporary lump sums, along the lines of
the procedure that is already in place for pensions. This arrangement will allow for a fast reduction of
ETEAEP’s obligations. A legal provision is currently prepared by the Ministry of Labour and is
expected to be submitted in the Parliament in the coming weeks, since its implementation is a
necessary condition for reaching the reduction targets set out in the plan.
Treasury Single Account
The Greek authorities are moving forward with implementing a Treasury Single Account (TSA) at
the Bank of Greece to achieve an end-2019 specific commitment.
The main objective of this reform is
to allow the Hellenic Republic to access liquidity held throughout the general government sector and to
benefit from a more effective liquidity management. Some progress has been made in the first months of
2019 though the most important measures still remain to be taken.
Two Ministerial Decisions were issued regarding the general cash planning framework for general
government entities.
By 31 July 2019, general government entities are required to open a cash
management account in the Bank of Greece and to transfer their surplus cash from the commercial
banking system to the cash management accounts in Bank of Greece (
19
). As of mid-May, 588 general
government entities (i.e. approximately one third of the total) had a cash management account in the Bank
of Greece. A 15 days liquidity buffer can be held in the commercial bank with an exception targeted for
financial stability purpose. Besides, a new Directorate in the Ministry of Finance is on the point of being
created and
will have to monitor general government entities’ cash flows projections based on their
approved annual budget. The General Accounting Office will launch a pilot phase with the participation
of 29 general government entities when the Ministerial Decision enters into force in July. Other steps to
be undertaken quickly as they are lagging behind at this stage are the elaboration on the general
(
19
) This objective enshrined in the Decisions 2/6748/21-01-2019 and 2/16606/21-02-2.
21
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0031.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 3 - Fiscal and fiscal-structural policies
government entities’ 15
days liquidity buffer calculation and assessment as well as the mandatory
payment of their wages and pensions through the cash management accounts.
On the Bank of Greece side, after some technical difficulties earlier in the year, the central bank is now
able to provide the service of electronic transfer of funds between cash management accounts and
commercial bank accounts. The pilot phase for the use of the web platform run by the Bank of Greece as
well as the seminar organized by the central bank for General Government entities are on track.
Chart of Accounts
The Unified Chart of Accounts (UCoA) is one of the key elements of the public financial
management reforms in Greece,
as it is a necessary step forward for improvements in fiscal analysis,
decisions and reporting, and a crucial element for transparency and reliability of fiscal data. The Greek
authorities committed to fully implement the UCoA in all General Government entities by 2023.
Though limited to some entities (
20
) and to a rather simple economical classification structure, a
major step forward was undertaken for the 2019 Budget with the rollout of an UCoA in the State.
The 2019 Budget preparation indeed took place under the new UCoA and transactions were recorded
against these new rules on January 2019. The authorities are processing with ELSTAT to tackle
remaining issues on the new economic and administrative accounting classifications. The crucial
compliance of the Public Investment Budget with the budget and accounting classifications, which is one
of the objectives of a January Presidential Decree (
21
), remains under discussion between the General
Accounting Office and the Ministry of Economy. Besides, acting as a precondition for further accounting
reforms, it would be warranted to reinforce the governance structure with the appointment of an ad hoc
Steering Committee fully dedicated to the UCoA reform. By mid-2020, Greece will need to complete the
UCoA rules with deeper economical and administrative classifications and with other segments such as
the functional one. Deepening the reform by broadening the scope to include all general government
entities will also be a step forward as the medium-term goals are, on the one hand, the implementation of
the new UCoA to the whole general government and, on the other hand, the migration to accrual
accounting by January 2023. These objectives were enshrined in a Presidential Decree
(9)
in June 2018.
The implementation of the UCoA and accounting reforms are closely linked with other public
financial management reforms such as the development of the Treasury Single Account and the
avoidance of the creation of new arrears.
Incorporating the recording of all workflows will facilitate
accrual accounting and will allow for a better monitoring of accounts and consequently, arrears.
(
20
) Up to the 2
nd
level of the administrative classification, and to the 3
rd
level for the regional units of central administration
(Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education and IAPR).
(
21
) June 2018, Presidential Decree 54.
22
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0032.png
4.
4.1.
SOCIAL WELFARE
PENSIONS
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
have repealed the 2016 reform of the survivors’ pensions that had
modernised and aligned the pension entitlements to standard practices of other EU Member States. In
particular, the measure has increased the amount of pension bringing it back to 70% (from 50%);
eliminated the limitation on duration (previously 3 years for those below 55 years of age) for those of
active age, who can now receive a survivor pension of 50% even if employed; and reduced the number
years of marriage needed to trigger eligibility
(from 5 to 3). The changes to the rules on survivors’
pensions risk to negatively affect female labour participation, which is already low in Greece (activity
rate of 64.8% in 2018 compared to 72.4% for the EU).
Furthermore, the authorities have reinstated a permanent 13
th
pension, which had been eliminated
in 2012.
It will be paid once a year at a level of 30%-100% of current pensions (the highest percentage for
pensions below EUR 500 per month and the lowest for pensions above EUR 1 000 per month) and will
cost as much as EUR 0.8 billion. These measures will decrease the relative share of social benefits spent
on the young and working age population where the risk of poverty is much higher. See section 3.1 for
the overall assessment of the fiscal cost.
As regards the implementation of the action plan for the completion of the setup of the unified main
pension fund EFKA, which is a mid-2020 commitment, the authorities are making good progress,
with the technical support from the Commission. The launching of the public tender for new EFKA
information and innovation technology services is still pending.
The authorities have continued
publishing detailed statistical information on pensions (monthly Helios reports).
Graph 4.1:
Pensions and social spending
Pension spending (2019)
30
+0.4
+1.4
25
20
15
13.8
12.2
10
15.9
5
0
12.4
8.7
14.5
Pensions and social protection (2017)
% of GDP
18
16
14
12
10
8
% of GDP
6
4
2
0
Greece
euro area
Greece
euro area
Spending, net of recalibration
No recalibration
13th pension
Pensions
Other social
Source:
2018 Ageing Report, Greek National Actuarial Authority, Eurostat
4.2.
HEALTH CARE
The pace of collection of the clawbacks has seen a recent improvement, and collection of the
clawback for 2018 is currently ongoing (specific commitment for mid-2019).
The Greek authorities
committed to the Eurogroup to complete the full offsetting and collection of the clawback (i.e. the excess
public spending beyond the legislated ceilings that providers need to pay back into the public purse), by
June every year for the previous calendar year. Based on reports obtained during the May post-
23
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0033.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 4 - Social welfare
programme mission, the procedure for the collection/offsetting of the clawback has already started for
2018. In brief:
approximately one third of the outpatient pharmaceutical clawback has been recovered by May 2019;
a similar rate applies to the collection of the clawback for drugs circulated through pharmacies
affiliated with the national health insurance body, EOPYY;
as for privately provided services reimbursed by EOPYY, the amount to be paid back for 2018 has not
been quantified yet. Prior to the start of the collection, the authorities need to complete the
quantification and inform providers of the due amount. The necessary documents and communications
have not been shared by the authorities so far.
There are still some backlogs in the clawbacks for previous years, especially for private providers,
for whom more than half of the clawback of 2017 has not yet been collected.
Some backlog applies to
pharmaceuticals too, although at this stage only one fifth of the total amount remains to be collected. In
general, residual clawback amounts still date back to 2012 for pharmaceuticals and to 2013 for providers
(and to 2016 for EOPYY pharmacies clawback), but these mostly do not represent large amounts.
Despite improvements in collection, the generation of new clawbacks is quite high and has been
increasing over time to levels, which may soon become not sustainable.
The pace of collection of
clawbacks has seen an improvement in the last years, however recent measures to dilute the repayment by
providers (increase in the maximum number of instalments to repay the clawback from 24 to 48) raise
concerns as to the future evolution of clawback collection and thus the liquidity of EOPYY and the
deterrent to providers of facing high repayments. Indeed, Greece still faces significant challenges in
containing the creation of new clawbacks. The clawback for pharmaceuticals, especially outpatient, has
been continuously increasing year by year, with the level in 2018 exceeding 550 million, from 79 million
in 2012, which is also increasingly linked to the reimbursement of high-cost drugs.
Graph 4.2:
Evolution of outpatient pharmaceuticals clawback
350 0
300 0
77
mn EU R
Expenditure ceilings
Clawback/overrun
153
200
319
456
478
580
250 0
200 0
150 0
2880
2371
100 0
500
2000
2000
1945
1945
1945
0
201 2
201 3
201 4
201 5
201 6
201 7
201 8
Source:
European Commission
The size of the excess spending through the clawback underlines the need for more sustained efforts
to implement structural measures designed to curb supply-induced demand, and indeed some
recent measures may exacerbate the situation.
The need for more sustained and effective
implementation applies in many areas including therapeutic protocols, negotiating committee, centralised
procurement, patient registers for high cost drugs, monitoring and control of prescription patterns by
doctors and dispensing by pharmacists. The recent modification of the pricing procedure for
pharmaceuticals, replacing the previous well-established one that so far was amongst the most successful
tools to contain pharmaceutical spending, contains several features that do not support the reduction of
the clawbacks, amongst which the introduction of price floors and the transition to a euro area (as
24
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0034.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 4 - Social welfare
opposed to EU) basket of comparators for reference pricing. These and other features (
22
) will likely result
in an increase in pharmaceutical expenditure in 2019.
Enforcing existing measures to rationalise spending and adopting new ones will be necessary given
the level of the current and future expenditure ceilings.
The emerging increasing trend in spending,
which may be aggravated by the future incoming wave of high-cost drugs, can also be indicative of an
underlying distortion of incentives. Unless the clawback mechanism is reviewed to ensure that its
incentive structure limits moral hazard also on the public payer’s side and improves the balance of burden
sharing between the public sector and private companies, this distortion might contribute to delaying the
implementation of structural measures.
The roll-out of primary health care is proceeding but at a slow pace and with marked disparities
across the territory.
The authorities fulfilled the commitment of opening at least 120 TOMYs (primary
health care units), and have meanwhile exceeded the target with 124 openings thus far, with the support
of the European Social Fund. However, based on the latest reports a rather static picture emerges
concerning progress with the broader roll-out of primary health care. The registered population so far
only counts around 2 million people. Notably, the obstacles with the recruitment of general practitioners
persist, which may constitute a bottleneck in view of opening additional TOMYs, due to the minimum
staffing requirements to ensure proper functioning. In order to meet the Eurogroup commitment of
opening 240 TOMYs by mid-2020, the roll-out pace of the network should gain greater momentum. This
is paired with a currently uneven distribution of TOMYs over the territory. To this date, less than thirty
TOMYs are available in the area of Attica, which includes 50 municipalities and around half of the Greek
population, i.e. 5 million.
Progress on centralised health procurement continues at a slow pace, with staff constraints
translating into still limited capacity to launch new tenders.
The newly established health care
centralised procurement body EKAPY is not yet fully staffed: the appointment of the permanent board
has not yet been completed, which may result in future disruptions in operations; recruitment of regular
staff is also still slow, with less than half of the available positions currently filled (including both
permanent and temporary staff). With a view to acquiring the autonomy to launch new tenders,
recruitment of staff with legal background is of the essence and it is thus far proving challenging. This is
de facto
constraining activity mostly to the completion of tenders launched in the past. Reaching the
necessary minimum staffing level will be a key determinant of the capability of EKAPY to operate
effectively and systematically to realise the potential savings coming from central procurement.
4.3.
SAFETY NETS
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. The amount of
the monthly benefit ranges from EUR 70 to EUR 210, depending on the household size, which
corresponds to 30-50% of average rental costs in Greece. As of 30 April 2019, 272 179 applications had
been submitted, and 237 701 of these had been accepted (87% approval rate), corresponding to 633 888
individuals (about 5.8% of the Greek population), a result in line with initial expectations. The vast
majority of applications (92%) have been submitted through the on-line platform and eligibility is verified
automatically thanks to the inter-linkage between different administrative databases providing the
necessary information (such as income, rental contract, etc.).
The reform of the system of disability benefits is advancing but with significant delays.
One element
of this reform process is the upgrading and simplification of the administrative processes to determine
(
22
) The main new features of the system include the maximum reduction of 10% for each repricing; generics allowed to be priced
at 75%, instead of 65%, of the price of the relative off patent if the price decrease with the new pricing exceeds 10% (thus
generating some price increases); the loss of the automatic 50% decrease of off-patents following expiry of the exclusivity
period; prices set with respect to a euro area basket are higher than the previous ones based on the EU; the introduction of a
price floor.
25
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 4 - Social welfare
disability status. After having been successfully piloted, these new procedures are being gradually
introduced throughout the country. The second element of this reform is the adoption of a new approach
to determine disability status based on both medical and functional assessment (specific commitment for
mid-2019). The new methodology for a functional assessment of disability (which would complement the
current purely medical assessment) is to be developed on the basis of the evaluation of the results of a
completed pilot project that received technical support of the World Bank. Originally, the evaluation of
the pilot project should have been completed by end-2018. However, a slower-than-expected processing
of applications due to bottlenecks in the administrative procedures severely delayed the initial data
collection phase. As a consequence, the evaluation of the pilot is only set to begin in September 2019, to
be completed by the end of the year. The authorities are therefore not in a position to endorse and
formally adopt a new methodology for disability assessment before 2020. A revised timeline detailing the
intermediate steps and a final deadline for adoption should be defined.
The Social Solidarity Income (SSI) scheme is reaching its maturity.
It guarantees a minimum level of
income to households with very low disposable incomes, and has become a well-established element of
the Greek social welfare system. In the first four months of 2019, the scheme reached about 270 000
households (corresponding to about 500 000 individuals), for an annual expenditure of around EUR 680
million. This is a lower number of beneficiaries compared to the previous year, where the scheme had
about 300 000 beneficiary households (corresponding to more than 600 000 individuals), for an annual
expenditure of around EUR 750 million. The reduction can be attributed partly to improvements in the
system of automatic eligibility checks and intensification of controls, and partly to the general
improvement of the economic and social situation, with a reduction in the number of potential
beneficiaries.
The implementation of the social inclusion and labour market (re-)integration elements of the SSI,
to be achieved by end-2019 (specific commitment), is progressing.
Since its inception, the SSI scheme
has been designed around three pillars, which are being built progressively: (i) income support; (ii) social
inclusion; and, (iii) labour market reintegration. With respect to the second pillar, 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. The third pillar relies
on the provision of active labour market services to help SSI recipients (re-)enter the labour market. To
achieve this, the authorities are shifting from an ad-hoc and irregular to a more systematic approach to the
design and management of active labour market programmes. Concretely, this entails: i) a shift to a new
delivery model for active labour market programmes, whereby a menu of options and programmes is
continuously made available to the unemployed; ii) a strengthened provision of counselling services; and,
iii) a better mapping of the needs of the labour market which in turn informs the design of new
programmes. The new system is currently being tested
so far successfully
in a pilot project launched
in June 2018 in one local office of the public employment service (Elefsina) covering three municipalities
(with a population of about 10 000 registered unemployed), and is going to be gradually expanded to the
entire country by the end of 2019.
The authorities committed to review the system of subsidies for local public transport (specific
commitment end-2019).
Different categories of people such as students, persons over 65, the
unemployed, the disabled and members of large families, currently benefit from subsidised fares for local
public transport. Thanks to the recent introduction of electronic ticketing on the public transport network
of Athens, data on actual transport usage by each category of beneficiaries has become available,
allowing a more precise costing of these policies in the Attica region. The Greek authorities are expected
to carry out a study to assess the appropriateness of the current system of subsidised fares for local public
transport across Greece. The study should be concluded by June 2019 and contain recommendations for
possible improvements to the system.
26
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0036.png
5.
5.1.
FINANCIAL SECTOR
FINANCIAL SECTOR DEVELOPMENTS
5.1.1. Financial sector overview and financial stability assessment
The situation of the financial sector continues to be challenging with improvements at a very slow
pace; significant vulnerabilities remain, such as the high volumes of non-performing loans (NPLs)
and the strong sovereign-bank nexus.
On a positive note, the liquidity situation of Greek banks has
further improved. Greek banks continue relying primarily on their internal capacity to generate capital,
which has been further weakened by their low profitability due to their poor asset quality.
Banks’ private sector deposits have slightly increased since the end of the ESM programme and
reliance on central bank funding has significantly decreased
(see graph 5.1) with all banks having
completely repaid emergency liquidity assistance (ELA). The improving liquidity situation of Greek
banks and increased confidence of depositors gave room for a further loosening of capital controls as of 1
October 2018. If financial stability considerations allow, only one or two final steps of capital control
relaxation are needed to put an end to the restrictions still in place. This would normalise the functioning
of the Greek economy within the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and would reduce the economic
costs attached to it.
Graph 5.1:
300
250
200
Bank deposits (left panel) and total borrowing from the Eurosystem (right panel)
MFIs
Households
NFC
200
bn EU R
bn EU R
%
50
Cent ral Gov ernment
150
40
30
100
150
100
50
20
50
10
0
200 8
201 0
201 1
201 3
201 6
201 8
201 9
200 7
200 9
201 2
201 4
201 5
201 7
0
0
201 4
201 5
201 6
201 7
201 8
201 9
Borrowing from the Eurosystem
Euro system liquidity as % o f liabilities (rhs.)
Source:
Bank of Greece
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 (DTCs)
continue to account for a sizeable part of CET1 capital.
According to Bank of Greece data as of the
end of 2018, the Greek banking system had a Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) of 15.3% on a consolidated
basis, which is comparable with the EU average. Data from the European Banking Authority (EBA)
indicate a similar capital position for December 2018 (15.3%), though the data also point to a fully loaded
CET 1 ratio below the EU average (12.1% vs. 14.4%). In addition, the high level of DTCs in CET1 raises
concerns regarding capital quality and contributes to the strong sovereign-bank nexus in Greece. The
share of DTCs in the banks’ capital has increased over 2018 due to the decrease in total capital and
exceeded 60% of the CET1 capital on average for the four systemic banks as of end 2018 (
23
). Another
aspect that warrants further monitoring in the medium term is the need of Greek banks to issue bail-inable
(
23
) Deferred tax credits for the four systemic banks amount to EUR 15.7 billion whereas their aggregate common equity tier 1
capital is EUR 25.9 billion as of end-2018. Therefore, the share of DTCs over CET 1 capital reaches 60.8% end 2018, 2 pps
more than in Q3 2018.
27
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0037.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 5 - Financial sector
debt in the following years in order to meet the minimum requirement for own funds and eligible
liabilities (MREL) (
24
) as per the EU legislation.
Profitability remains a source of concern for the Greek banking sector.
During the first nine months
of 2018, operating profits declined and the proportion taken up by provisions reached 95%. Despite the
gradual improvement of the economic situation in Greece, the 2018 financial results of the four systemic
banks indicate lower profitability in 2018 compared to 2017 and, overall, the Greek banking system
closed the financial year 2018 with minor net losses. Going forward, the still high level of NPLs coupled
with the decline in pre-provisioning profits creates challenges for Greek banks especially due to the need
to swiftly reduce NPL levels and comply with the forthcoming provisioning calendar, in line with the
ECB Banking Supervision Guidance and also in view of the application of the prudential backstop in the
coming years (
25
).
NPL resolution continues to be the most important challenge for the banking sector in Greece.
NPLs have been gradually decreasing, but remain elevated,
amounting to EUR 81.8 billion at end-
2018 in comparison with the peak of EUR 107.2 billion of March 2016. This translates into a NPL ratio
of 45.4%, which is 1.8 pps lower than the previous year and 0.7 pps below the previous quarter (see graph
5.2), indicating an accelerated rate of NPL reduction in the last quarter. During the fourth quarter of 2018,
the reduction in NPLs has been mainly led by cured loans and write-offs (circa EUR 1.6 billion each),
followed by sale of loans, collections and liquidations (circa EUR 0.5 billion each) (see graph 5.3). The
latter could gain more relevance in the upcoming quarters once e-auctions and other initiatives show more
clearly their results. By segments, the share of non-performing residential loans increased during 2018 by
1 percentage point, while consumer credit and business loans saw a reduction in their respective NPL
ratios in the same period (
26
). According to EBA data, the NPL ratio in Greece on a consolidated basis for
the four systemic banks remained the highest in the EU at end-2018, being more than twelve times bigger
than the EU average (41.2% vs. 3.2%). Despite the progress made to date, these figures show that further
major efforts are required to achieve a faster NPL reduction.
Graph 5.2:
70
65
60
55
84
50
45
40
35
30
%
Evolution of NPL ratio (left) and NPL stock (right)
87
86
0.5
85
84.7
-1.6
-0.5
-0.5
-0.6
EUR bn
1.7
83
82
-1.5
-0.4
81.8
Total NPL ratio
Residential loans
Jun 2015
Jun 2017
Consumer loans
Business Loans
Dec 2017
Jun 2018
Dec 2018
81
80
25
Jun 2016
Source:
Bank of Greece
Substantial further efforts to reduce the level of NPLs in the Greek banking system are essential in
order to ensure stability of the Greek banking sector and to safeguard reform momentum.
This will
underpin credibility over the medium term and reassure markets and interested stakeholders that sound
(
24
) MREL targets are established by the resolution authorities on a bank-by-bank basis at a sufficiently prudent level to allow the
two following components: (i) a default loss-absorbing amount (LAA), which reflects the losses that the bank would incur in a
potential resolution, and (ii) a recapitalisation amount (RCA), which would reflect the capital needed to meet ongoing
prudential requirements after resolution. The latter component is complemented by a market confidence charge (MCC),
necessary to ensure market confidence post-resolution.
(
25
) Regulation (EU) 2019/630 amending Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 as regards minimum loss coverage for non-performing
exposures aims to accelerate the reduction of NPLs in the banking sector by providing for a statutory prudential backstop
against any excessive future build-up of NPLs without sufficient loss coverage on banks' balance sheets. It establishes common
minimum levels for the amount of money banks need to set aside to cover losses caused by future loans that turn non-
performing. In case a bank does not meet the applicable minimum level, deductions from own funds would apply.
(
26
) Data extracted from Bank of Greece:
https://www.bankofgreece.gr/Pages/en/Statistics/loans.aspx
28
Dec 2016
Dec 2014
Dec 2015
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0038.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 5 - Financial sector
financial practices will be sustained. To this end, the various important reforms enacted to facilitate NPL
resolution should be implemented in a determined manner. This relates to the insolvency framework for
households and corporations, the enforceability of collateral through electronic auctions, the out-of-court
debt workout mechanism, as well as an active secondary market for non-performing loans as further
discussed in Section 5.1.2. Reforms should be supportive of reducing the legacy NPLs, but also improve
the incentive system to limit the inflow of new NPLs.
In addition to enacted reforms, NPL resolution could be supported by well-designed systemic
initiatives.
While some analysis and preparations have taken place with the support of the Bank of
Greece and HFSF in late 2018, it would be advisable that the Greek authorities increase their efforts to
scrutinize all available policy options that could support a swift NPL reduction. The Greek authorities
sent a draft proposal to the Commission services for a type of asset protection scheme (APS), based on
the initiative and preparations of the HFSF, which are being assessed from a State aid perspective. This
initiative would consist of the granting of state guarantees on NPL securitization transactions in order to
facilitate the removal of NPLs from banks’ balance
sheets, similarly to the scheme already introduced in
Italy (GACS). At the same time, there has been no progress in exploring whether an APS can be
complemented by establishing an Asset Management Company (AMC), based on the initiative and
preparations of the Bank of Greece. The proposal would entail a transfer of NPLs currently held by Greek
banks along with part of their DTCs to a special purpose vehicle, thus addressing the main weaknesses of
the Greek banks.
Such initiatives could be helpful additions to the NPL resolution toolkit, provided they are designed
to benefit the whole banking system and are based on thorough technical preparation, inter alia on
scope, regulatory and supervisory treatment, governance, funding, compatibility with EU
competition and State aid rules and impact on bank and sovereign balance sheets.
In January 2019,
the Ministry of Finance announced that it established a working group with the Bank of Greece and the
HFSF, which is supporting the coordinated assessment of the respective schemes, including through
improved cooperation. However, the lack of deliverables raises the question whether the working group is
fully operational. It is important that the preparations of the respective schemes progress in an expedited
manner, in order to allow for the swift implementation of the schemes, which may benefit from elements
of state support subject to State aid and other regulatory approval and taking into account relevant
supervisory considerations.
Table 5.1:
Main financial stability indicators
2014Q4
39.7
41.8
44.7
38.5
43.5
-10.6
-1.0
14.1
13.8
13.8
79.1
2015Q4
46.8
49.5
52.5
45.9
48.5
-24.2
-2.8
16.5
16.3
16.3
72.3
2016Q4
46.3
50.4
53.9
46.3
48.2
-7.5
-0.9
17.0
16.9
16.9
75.9
2017Q1
46.6
50.3
53.4
46.8
48.1
1.3
0.1
16.8
16.7
16.7
77.2
2017Q2
46.9
50.6
53.3
47.5
47.4
-0.4
-0.1
17.2
17.1
17.1
78.2
2017Q3
46.7
50.4
52.6
47.9
47.2
-0.3
0.0
17.2
17.2
17.2
81.8
2017Q4
45.0
49.4
51.4
47.1
46.7
-1.3
-0.2
17.1
17.0
17.0
83.5
2018Q1
45.4
49.2
51.1
47.0
49.5
0.7
0.1
16.4
15.8
15.8
78.8
2018Q2
44.9
48.4
49.4
47.3
49.0
-2.4
-0.3
16.4
15.8
15.8
78.4
2018Q3
43.5
47.3
47.9
46.6
47.8
-0.8
-0.1
16.3
15.7
15.7
76.0
Non-performing loans
o/w NFC & HH sectors
o/w NFC sector
o/w HH sector
Coverage ratio
Return on equity(1)
Return on assets(1)
Total capital ratio
CET 1 ratio
Tier 1 ratio
Loan to deposit ratio
(1) Annualised data
Source:
ECB - CBD2 - Consolidated Banking data; own calculations
5.1.2. Financing of the economy
In the first quarter of 2019, bank lending to non-financial corporations turned slightly positive,
while credit to households continued to contract.
From 2011 until late 2018, the annual growth rate of
loans extended to non-financial corporations either hovered in negative territory, or was close to zero
(Graph 5.3). Most recently, the gradual recovery in lending to non-financial corporations that started in
December 2018 has picked up further. Credit to non-financial corporations recorded four consecutive
months of positive growth and reached 1.6% year-on-year in February and March 2019, a growth rate last
observed in early 2011. The growth rate of loans to households has been very slowly recovering since
July 2016, but as of the end of the first quarter of 2019 remained in clearly negative territory and even
29
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0039.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 5 - Financial sector
decreased slightly further. Growth in consumer loans has remained broadly unchanged since late 2016 at
close to zero. In the second half of 2018, some temporary easing in credit standards for all types of loans
took place for the first time in many years; however, credit standards remained unchanged thereafter.
Survey data suggests that demand has been growing for all categories of credit throughout 2018 and in the
first quarter of 2019. In particular, demand for housing loans benefits from better housing market
prospects, while demand for consumer loans is supported by improved consumer confidence and by
increasing expenditures for consumer durables. Increased demand for corporate credit has been motivated
by fixed investment and debt restructuring needs.
Graph 5.3:
3
2
1
0
-1
%
Bank credit to non-financial corporations and households
3
Mar. 2019:
1.6%
%
Νοn-financial
corporations
2
1
0
-1
-2
Households
Housing loans
Consumer loans
-2
-3
-4
-5
-6
-7
Jan.2014:
-5.3%
Mar. 2019:
-2.3%
Mar. 2019:
-0.7%
Mar. 2019:
-2.9%
-3
-4
-5
-6
-7
Source:
Bank of Greece
Lending rates to non-financial corporations have broadly stabilised, while interest rates for credit
to households continue to rise
(Graph 5.4). The bank lending rate for non-financial corporations has
been on a downward trend since the end of 2011 and has stabilised at around 4% in recent months,
reflecting diminished risk perceptions. By contrast, lending rates to households generally followed an
upward trend during the past four years. In the first quarter of 2019, the average lending rate for
households were around 100 basis points above the corresponding rate for corporations, mainly reflecting
credit risk developments, as the NPL ratio for consumer loans is particularly high and the NPL ratio for
mortgage loans has been deteriorating recently as compared to other loan categories. In this context, any
government policies
(e.g. aimed at supporting vulnerable or other groups in society) affecting the banks’
loan portfolios imply a cost to the banks that cannot seize the collateral and have to agree to loan
restructurings and therefore could be expected to exert upward pressure on average lending rates in the
economy.
Graph 5.4:
Bank interest rates on new loans
8
7
%
M ar. 2019:
4.9%
6
5
4
3
2
1
Loans to non-financial corporations
M ar. 2019:
4.0%
Loans to households
0
Source:
Bank of Greece
Small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in Greece continue to be adversely affected by
constraints to access to finance.
The demand for external financing in Greece continues to be strong.
Surveys show that there has been an ongoing improvement in the willingness of banks to provide credit in
30
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0040.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 5 - Financial sector
Greece since the beginning of 2017, but overall SMEs are still disproportionately affected by limited
access to bank financing. This is also reflected in the spread between the interest rate on small bank loans
(up to EUR 250,000) and on larger bank loans (above EUR 1 million) to non-financial corporations,
which has been widening since mid-2014.
5.2.
FINANCIAL SECTOR POLICIES
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.
The implementation of the
actions outlined below is monitored and assessed under enhanced surveillance as part of the continuous
specific commitment to
“continue to implement reforms aimed at restoring the health of the banking
system, including
NPL resolution efforts”.
Electronic auctions
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.
Graph 5.5:
Cumulative number of e-auctions conducted since 29 November 2017
25 000
20 000
15 000
10 000
5 000
0
Properties whe re scheduled auct io n was cancelled/suspended
Properties whe re auction t ook place but was unsuccessful (lack of bids)
Successful auctions (1 )
(1) According to stakeholders' reports, 70-80% of the auctioned properties are repossessed by banks.
Source:
Ministry of Justice
One identified impediment seems to derive from procedural abuses, which are currently under
assessment.
The Greek authorities shared the latest progress report on e-auctions detailing developments
up to the end of the first quarter or 2019, showing a downward trend in the number of auctions launched
on the initiative of creditors; otherwise, the mechanism continues to operate across the territory of Greece
(with the exception of Corfu, where the local notarial association continues to abstain from the conduct of
e-auctions). The main impediments identified by the Hellenic Banking Association relate to the strategic
behaviour of debtors to resort to filings under the household insolvency law after the launch of
enforcement proceedings and shortly before the conduct of the auction in an effort to block the process
and from the submission of petitions by the debtor to revise the minimum bid prices upward with a
similar motivation. The Hellenic Banking Association presented supporting data on these two
impediments during the 3
rd
enhanced surveillance mission. No action has been taken so far to address
these issues. The Greek authorities, together with the Hellenic Banking Association, established a
working group, which is currently still assessing the data, in order to define and take the necessary
mitigating actions soon as indicated in the context of the second enhanced surveillance report, including
in the context of the ongoing review of the implementation of the Greek Code of Civil Procedure. The
working group will prepare a report by September 2019.
31
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0041.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 5 - Financial sector
Clearing of the household insolvency backlog
The process of the gradual elimination of the backlog of pending cases in the context of the
household insolvency framework is significantly behind schedule.
A revised action plan by the
authorities is expected to be prepared by end-June 2019, while the impact of the new mechanism for the
protection of primary residences (which is yet uncertain) could be factored in later in the year. The Greek
authorities reported that they are in the process of collecting data from magistrate courts and optimizing
the processing procedure, including the use of new improved templates covering variants not available in
past reports, aiming at the provision of more reliable, standardized and granular court statistics. The
European institutions received the preliminary aggregated data for 2018 and the first quarter of 2019 on
17 May 2019. Based on the data received, the number of pending cases remained broadly stable in 2018
and increased again in December 2018 and up to end-February 2019, due to the projected (end-December
2018) expiry of the foregoing primary residence protection framework (
27
) and its subsequent extension
until end-February 2019. The level of processed cases remained broadly stable in the first quarter of 2019.
Overall, the number of pending cases at the end of the first quarter of 2019 (89,498 pending cases against
a target of 85,130) is above the trajectory which would lead to the elimination of the backlog of cases by
2021. Since the elimination of the backlog is a specific commitment undertaken by the Greek authorities
to the Eurogroup (
28
) it seems to be necessary to increase the processing capacity to achieve the
elimination of the backlog by 2021. At the same time, the level of processed cases over the same period
exceeded the targets set by the June 2018 action plan in conjunction with its “statistical update” by the
Greek authorities in March 2019, with an average monthly processing rate of 3,504 cases against a target
of 2,580 cases. Going forward, it will be important to include in the monitoring the implementation data
pertaining to the newly adopted primary residence protection scheme, taking account of reschedulings
achieved either under the electronic platform procedure or pursuant to litigation resulting from non-
productive platform procedures.
Primary residence protection
Following the adoption of primary legislation establishing a new system for the protection of
eligible primary residences in support of the restructuring of non-performing loans (
29
), the Greek
authorities proceeded to the adoption of the requisite secondary legislation and the technical work
for the electronic platform for its implementation is ongoing.
Due to a number of delays, the law
could not be implemented by 30 April 2019 as envisaged and the platform may be fully operating no
sooner than end-July 2019. More specifically:
The adopted secondary legislation consists of three Joint Ministerial Decisions laying down the
specifications of the electronic platform (
30
), the procedure for the provision of the state subsidy (
31
)
and the manner of valuation of certain assets included in the wealth criteria pertaining to the eligibility
assessment (
32
).
Regarding the technical work, the authorities set up a steering committee to supervise the creation and
functioning of the electronic platform (
33
); the committee is composed of state agencies, stakeholders
and a technical advisor. Work on the platform started immediately upon enactment of the primary
legislation and is progressing but, according to the Greek authorities, the complexity of the tasks
involved and technical challenges encountered so far have led to a revision of the initial time frame
for the completion of the project (end-April 2019), with the platform now scheduled to be fully
operational by end-July 2019, including the interconnection between the module that will be added for
Under the household insolvency law 3869/2010.
Annex to Eurogroup statement of 22.6.2018
Law 4605/2019 (OJ A-52/1.4.2019, articles 68-84).
Joint Ministerial Decision No. 47158/2.5.2019 of the Ministers of Finance, Economy and Development, Labour, Social Security
and Social Solidarity (OJ B-1498/3.5.2019).
(
31
) Joint Ministerial Decision No. 39100/8.4.2019 of the Ministers of Finance, Economy and Development, Labour, Social Security
and Social Solidarity (OJ B-1167/8.4.2019).
(
32
) Joint Ministerial Decision No. 39095/8.4.2019 of the Ministers of Finance and Economy and Development (OJ B-
1165/8.4.2019).
(
33
) Decision of the Government Council for economic policy, protocol no. 99/1.4.2019.
(
27
)
(
28
)
(
29
)
(
30
)
32
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0042.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 5 - Financial sector
that purpose to the Social Security Electronic Governance e-platform of the Greek Single Social
Security Entity that is required for the provision of the state subsidy. Until then, no applications can be
filed by borrowers. 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 a provision extending the tax treatment of write-offs that
expired at the end of 2018
(
34
),
which should be undertaken in a timely manner.
The tax regime in
question stipulated that the amount of the write-off is not considered as an income of the debtor or a
donation by the bank. Therefore, following the expiry of said regime at the end of 2018, write-offs are
currently subject to income tax, which represents a disincentive to restructurings. The extension should be
enacted prior to the end of 2019 so as to cover debt restructurings under the law.
Harmonisation of the personal insolvency framework
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 multiplicity of frameworks makes their monitoring harder and increases the risk of either an
erroneous choice of framework or even procedural abuse, by means of parallel or consecutive recourse to
several mechanisms. Having expressly stated their intent to establish a single personal insolvency
framework in the near future, 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 reverting on the issue with a more concrete proposal shortly.
Evaluation of the implementation record of the reformed Code of Civil Procedure
Following the formation of a working group in February 2019 (
35
) and the dispatch of an initial
round of questionnaires to stakeholders, 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 completion of that phase will allow for the conduct of a comprehensive evaluation
of the reform, the quantification of its influence on the achievement of targets and the elaboration of new
proposals. The working group consists of judges, academics, legal professionals such as lawyers, notaries,
bailiffs and representatives of stakeholders. The current work concentrates on refining the contents of
questionnaires. In parallel to this work stream, the working group is engaged in the collection and
assessment of relevant legal precedent that will inform the final stage of its work, i.e. the formulation of
proposals for potentially needed legislative amendments. The completion of the first draft of the report
has been tentatively set by the Greek authorities on mid-October 2019, contingent upon observance of
intermediate timelines by the above-mentioned third parties.
Training of judges and appointment of court clerks
The authorities reported further progress in the provision of financial training to judges, notably in
the area of household insolvency (a specific end-2018 commitment).
Two draft Presidential Decrees
have been drafted by the Ministry of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights and should shortly be
submitted to the Council of State for a constitutionality assessment (
36
), regarding: (a) the setting up of a
section within the National School of Judges for the formation of magistrate’s court judges, who will be
henceforth enrolled in the School and (b) the syllabus that will include courses on financial and
accounting matters and on the methodology of judicial work.
(
34
) Article
62 para. 4 of Law 4389/2016 (OJ Α-94/27.5.2016).
(
35
) Ministerial Decision No. 5542/φ.325/24.1.2019, of the Minister of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights (OJ YODD-
56/11.22019).
36
( ) [Protocol numbers for the submission of the draft PDs to the CoS to be provided by the MoJ.]
33
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0043.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 5 - Financial sector
Regarding the appointment of clerical court staff, the authorities have also continued with the
appointment of successful candidates of recently completed Supreme Council for Civil Personnel
Selection competitions (
37
).More specifically, since the publication of the February 2019 Enhanced
Surveillance Report, 107 successful candidates were appointed as clerks in courts and court services
throughout the territory of Greece (
38
). Also, the Greek authorities reported that a replacement procedure
has been engaged by Supreme Council for Civil Personnel Selection with respect to 72 vacant IT posts.
Out-of-court workout framework
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.
Successful multilateral business negotiations score low, while bilateral business negotiations and
restructurings of self-employed
professionals’ and farmers’ debt fare markedly better; some recent
legislative initiatives raise concerns. Based on the latest data provided by the Greek authorities and
extending to the end of the first quarter of 2019, the previously noted continuous increase in the number
of submitted applications (from 497 to 6,077 in 2018) seems to be levelling off, with 6,733 submitted
applications submitted up to end-March 2019.
Graph 5.6:
Submitted business applications
8 000
7 000
6 000
5 000
4 000
3 000
Businesses
Self-employed
Farme rs
2 000
1 000
0
Oct-1 7
Oct-1 8
Jan-18
Mar-18
Jan-19
Aug-18
May-18
Dec-17
Source:
Special Secretariat for Private Debt Management Ministry of Justice
The number of successfully resolved business cases involving multilateral negotiations remains small:
approximately 83.8% of multilateral negotiations are reported as pending (total debt amount EUR
845.4 million), with 3.3% of them successfully resolved (total debt amount EUR 7.0 million) and the rest
rejected.
(
37
) OJ 1579-C/2018, OJ 68-C/2019
(
38
) Ministerial Decision 26327/11.4.2019 of the Minister of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights (OJ C-635/22.4.2019).
34
Dec-18
Nov-17
Nov-18
Mar-19
Jun-18
Sep-17
Sep-18
Feb-19
Feb-18
Apr-18
Jul-18
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0044.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 5 - Financial sector
Graph 5.7:
Outcome of multilateral negotiations - businesses
Successful
3%
In progress
84%
Unsuccessful
13%
Source:
Special Secretariat for Private Debt Management Governmental council for private debt management
The situation looks better regarding bilateral negotiations, with 46.0% pending (total debt amount EUR
186.4 million), 26.8% of them successful (total debt amount EUR 53.2 million) and the rest rejected.
With respect to restructurings in cases involving self-employed professionals and farmers, the percentage
of successful outcomes is higher (33.8% and 45.6% respectively), while pending proceedings account for
28.8% and 21.3% respectively and unsuccessful negotiations for 37.4% and 33.1% respectively.
It should be noted that the distinction between bi- and multilateral negotiations is not material regarding
the self-employed individuals and farmers, given that in 97.2% of all cases the creditor is the public
sector, either in the form of the tax authority (40.7% of all cases) or social security entities (56.5% of all
cases).
In conclusion, notwithstanding the fact that the OCW is a mechanism that was conceived and designed
predominantly for serving as a conduit for multilateral negotiations with a view to preserving viable
businesses, it ensues from results reported up to date that it has not emerged as the preferred choice for
that category of restructurings.
A recent development that gives grounds for concern is the enactment, on 16 May 2019 (
39
), of an
amendment to the law on the OCW (
40
) extending the cut-off date regarding the time limit set to the
inclusion of debt in the restructuring for the second time since its adoption (
41
), to 31 December 2018.
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.
This marks the second time the out-of-court workout framework has been amended in the last five
months, without consultation or information-sharing with relevant stakeholders. Given the need for a
stable and predictable framework, careful and long-term planning by the authorities is warranted before
changes are introduced to its setup. If the authorities are inclined to make the OCW legislation a more
permanent feature, due care should be given to properly structured incentives, ensuring efficient
restructurings without inciting strategic defaults.
(
39
) Cf. minutes of the plenary session of the Greek Parliament, under reference RKST/16.5.2019, article 5 of the Ministry of Health
bill adopted on that date.
40
( ) Law 4469/2017 (OJ A-62/3.5.2017), as subsequently amended by laws 4549/2018, (OJ A-105/14.6.2018) and 4587/2018 (OJ
218/A/24.12.2018).
(
41
) The first extension, from 31.12.2016 to 31.12.2017, was enacted by virtue of articles 45&ff. of law 4549/2018, (OJ A-
105/14.6.2018).
35
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0045.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 5 - Financial sector
State guarantees
The large stock of called loan guarantees by the state is subject to a low processing rate and a high
rejection rate.
Over the past seven years, the state has accumulated about EUR 1.5 billion backlog in
payment of called standardised guarantees.
Such guarantees were granted by the state on loans to private companies and individuals, mainly by virtue
of Ministerial Decisions issued for social and humanitarian reasons. As of end-March 2019, the total
number of claims submitted by the financial institutions is 575,908 for a total of EUR 1.8 billion. The
processing rate of such guarantees is very low with an average of 8% over 2013-2018, also because of
limited capacity of the Ministry of Finance to face such a workload. The slow path of clearance entails a
significant burden for the banks due to the non-payment of primary obligors and the guarantor, which
does not help the Greek banks in their effort to reduce the exceptionally high level of NPLs. Besides, the
fiscal impact of the clearance of the called guarantees remains unclear as the eligibility of the guarantees
claimed is uncertain and the total stock of claims is not known fully accurately. Therefore, the issue of the
called guarantees and its slow processing rate remains to be addressed.
In early March 2019, the authorities provided an action plan to improve the clearance of state
guarantees but more ambitious measures also of structural nature are necessary to allow for a full
clearance of the guarantees called in a reasonable timeline.
Consequently, some additional measures
are considered by the Greek authorities. The temporary recruitment of external personnel is under survey
and a new clearance method that would entail further cooperation between the General Accounting Office
and commercial banks is envisaged. A working group has been formed mid-May with the General
Accounting Office and the banks to address technical issues, and the authorities are expected to
communicate concrete proposals to the banks shortly.
5.3.
HELLENIC FINANCIAL STABILITY FUND
In line with Greece’s Eurogroup commitments, the status of the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund
(HFSF) 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 restructuring plans
implemented by the four systemic banks may necessitate certain changes in the operational framework of
the HFSF and the systemic banks, including through amendments in both the HFSF Law and the
Relationship Framework Agreements (
42
). The discussions between the HFSF and the Ministry of Finance
and between the HFSF and the respective banks on these issues are still ongoing.
The HFSF General Council has approved a divestment strategy in November 2018.
Although the
document makes it clear that the strategy, design, structure and execution of sale transactions regarding
HFSF stakes in Greek banks are the sole responsibility of the HFSF as an independent institution, the
potential involvement of the authorities in the final stage of the divestment and the legal protection for the
HFSF governing bodies is still subject to discussions between the HFSF and the Ministry of Finance.
The authorities have clarified that the mandate of the HFSF Selection Panel as a body was in
alignment with the recently extended mandate of the HFSF;
this has been confirmed by the Legal
Council of State. In early May 2019, the appointments to the vacant positions both in the Executive Board
(including the Deputy CEO) and in the General Council of the HFSF have been enacted.
(
42
) The Relationship Framework Agreements are mandatorily concluded bilateral agreements between the HFSF and each of the
four systemic banks that received State aid, regulating
among others
the significant obligations and the monitoring of the
implementation of the restructuring plans and the HFSF's consent rights.
36
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0046.png
6.
6.1.
LABOUR AND PRODUCT MARKETS
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.
The statutory minimum
wage was increased by 10.9%, as of 1 February 2019, and the sub-minimum wage for persons aged under
25 was abolished (implying an increase of 27% for this group). As a result, around 600,000 employees
are estimated to have benefitted from a direct increase in their salaries. In view of the concerns raised by
the increase of the minimum wage as regards its potential impact on undeclared work, on the wider wage
distribution and on competitiveness, the government has been encouraged to conduct an ex-post
assessment of its impact, as well as to continue monitoring labour market developments, including with
respect to collective bargaining outcomes (
43
). To this end, the Ministry of Labour has been developing a
monitoring tool based on administrative data (ERGANI database of registered employment contracts).
According to preliminary data, employment growth was robust in the first three months following the
increase in the minimum wage (period February-April 2019), with a large increase in the number of
registered contracts in the private sector (about 182,000 representing a 9% increase). In order to be able to
carry out a proper assessment, the authorities are planning to use and integrate additional data sources
(namely social insurance records) which should allow a more robust estimation of the effects of recent
policy changes. For this purpose, a request for technical support has been submitted to the Commission
concerning the appropriate collection and treatment of data from different existing administrative sources.
The action plan to fight undeclared work is progressing (a specific end-2019 commitment).
A
detailed action plan to fight undeclared work was adopted in May 2017, promoting an integrated
approach to undeclared work by reinforcing the cooperation among different institutions, improving the
capacity to detect the phenomenon, reviewing the system of incentives and strengthening the capacity of
the labour inspectorate. So far, the implementation of the action plan has progressed smoothly. Recently
completed actions include: the delivery of an assessment report regarding labour inspections in
agriculture; the completion of an ad-hoc business survey aimed at identifying the obstacles to the creation
of formal jobs; and, the delivery of a diagnostic report on bogus self-employment. A higher number of
inspections was carried out in 2018 compared to the previous year (3.8% increase), and data from
inspection results show a positive picture, with a steady reduction in the incidence of undeclared work in
high risk sectors, which stood at 8.4% in April 2019, down from 10.7% in April 2018 (see Graph 6.1).
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 in 2016 with the ratification by Greece of the
Revised European Social Charter (which establishes such a right under its Article 24). Therefore, while in
the past employers in Greece were not explicitly required to provide a justification for a dismissal, since
the ratification of the Charter this is now the case: an employer can legally resolve an employment
relationship for reasons connected with the capacity or conduct of the employee, or for reasons based on
the operational requirements of the enterprise (economic reasons). In case a dismissal is challenged in
court and the employer is unable to prove the existence of such a ‘valid reason’, the dismissal
is
considered to be unlawful and the employee has the right to be reinstated and is entitled to compensation
of financial losses incurred since the date of the unlawful dismissal. According to the Greek authorities,
the purpose of the new provision is to improve legal clarity, by listing under the same article of legislation
all the requirements that must be met in order for a dismissal to be considered as valid. It remains to be
seen to what extent such improved clarity will affect the overall number of dismissals, lead to an increase
(
43
) Following the end of the economic adjustment programme, the favourability principle and the principle of extension of
collective agreements have been restored. To date, 12 sectoral or local collective agreements have been extended to apply to the
entire sector, covering in total more than 200 000 workers.
37
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0047.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 6 - Labour and product markets
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.
Graph 6.1:
Share of uninsured workers found in high-risk sectors. January 2013 - April 2019
45
%
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
2013
Source:
Greek labour inspectorate
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
Education
Τhe Greek educational system faces long-standing
challenges, including inadequate allocation of
resources, low autonomy, poor educational outcomes, skill mismatches, and weaknesses in the
governance of higher education institutions.
These challenges are identified and discussed in the 2019
Country Report for Greece under the European Semester. The 2018 OECD country review on Greece (
44
)
also makes specific policy recommendations to improve the quality and efficiency of the system. In
contrast, some measures taken in recent months raise questions of consistency with the spirit of reforms
made in past years. Mergers between technical education institutions (TEIs), which focus on applied
sciences, technology and art and universities commenced in 2018 and were completed in 2019.
Rationalising the higher education system, which consisted of 36 independent institutions before the
mergers, is in principle warranted. However, the current policy which integrates the TEIs into the existing
universities, expands the system by establishing new departments, and maintains their regional
fragmentation across different cities. In the absence of a comprehensive prior evaluation, it is unclear how
the upgrading of TEIs will serve to improve the fragmented higher education landscape or the need to
make tertiary education more relevant for the labour market. This complements a particularly low
participation and completion rates of students in secondary vocational education. Mismatches of the
education system and labour market needs risk leading the emigration of recent graduates to other
countries to continue,
contributing to the ageing of the country’s labour force.
6.2.
PRODUCT MARKETS AND COMPETITIVENESS
While significant and wide-ranging reforms have been delivered in recent years to improve the
business environment, much remains to be done in this area to stimulate economic activity and job
creation, and to support the shift towards a more export- and investment-led growth model.
Over
the last years, the authorities have taken positive steps with respect to alleviating the administrative
burden on start-ups and businesses through the establishment of one-stop shops and the rationalisation of
licensing, inspection and customs procedures. In parallel, improvements in the regulation of network
industries and the removal of barriers to competition in specific sectors of the economy have been
achieved, along with improvements in the spatial planning framework for industrial and business sites,
and advances in cadastral and forest mapping. Nonetheless, the administrative burden on firms remains a
(
44
) Education for a Bright Future in Greece, OECD, April 2018
38
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0048.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 6 - Labour and product markets
major issue, while there is greater scope for openness in specific markets to create further economic
opportunities and jobs, given the still high unemployment rate (
45
).
Positive results are being recorded on the export and investment side, reflecting an improvement in
framework conditions, with nonetheless significant challenges laying ahead.
Exports of goods and
services reached 36% of GDP in 2018, climbing up from 33% in 2017, and recording an annual growth
rate in real terms of 8.7% compared to 6.8% in 2017. Moreover,
Greece’s export performance in relation
to the rest of the world has improved, as reflected in export market shares gains recorded over the last two
years (see Graph 6.2), largely due to improvements in cost-competitiveness. Nonetheless, according to the
Commission 2019 spring forecast, export growth is expected to decelerate in the coming years, partly in
response to the slowdown in the global economy, and especially in the euro area, which is a major
destination of Greek goods exports and the main source of tourism inflows. Further, despite a fall in
overall gross fixed capital formation (-12.2% in 2018), foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows resumed
their upward trend in 2018 following the gains recorded in 2016 and 2017. FDI inflows in 2018 amounted
to close to 2% of GDP, attributable to a large extent to privatisations (21% of the total FDI inflow for
2018). Yet, this is still half the euro area average, reflecting Greece’s poor track record in attracting FDI,
partly due to shortcomings in the investment environment.
Non-price competitiveness still remains at a relatively low level, and has even slightly retreated over
the past two years according to a number of indicators.
Greece ranks 72
nd
among 190 countries (down
from 67
th
in 2017 and 61
st
in 2016), according to the 2019 Doing Business Report of the World Bank, and
57th among 140 countries (four places down from the previous year) according to the 2017-2018 Global
Competitiveness Index of the World Economic Forum. Greece’s performance according to the 2018
World Competitiveness Rankings of the Swiss-based International Institute for Management
Development was broadly stable between 2016 and 2018, positioning Greece on the 57
th
place out of 63
countries assessed in 2018, after having deteriorated quite markedly in 2016 (six places down from the
previous year).
Graph 6.2:
Evolution of Greece's export market share
y-o-y
25
change (%)
20
15
10
5
0
-5
-10
-15
-20
-25
-30
03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Contribution: World export growth (nominal, neg. sign)
Contribution: Export growth (nominal)
Export market share growth rate
Source:
European Commission
Overall, it will be key to focus reform efforts on further rationalising and digitising administrative
procedures for firms, improving the regulatory and legislative framework in key sectors, and
facilitating access to finance.
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.
(
45
) The challenges facing the business environment in Greece were discussed among the European Commission, World Bank,
OECD, experts from Member States, local policy makers, social partners, journalists, think-tanks and academics in the context
of the European Semester Conference that was 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
39
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 6 - Labour and product markets
6.2.1. Business environment
With a further increase of 14% of GDP still needed to be achieved within a 6-year horizon, more
needs to be done on export promotion to reach the export/GDP target of 50% by 2025, as set out by
the Growth Strategy adopted by the authorities in July 2018.
The pace of implementation of the two
related action plans, namely the Export Promotion Action Plan and the Trade Facilitation Roadmap,
drawn during the ESM stability support programme, has been mixed. Particular concerns are related to
the implementation of an integrated Single Window ICT system, which aims to speed up procedures for
traders and customs officers, as significant delays in both the tendering procedure and the preparatory
work are observed with respect to the end-2020 target. Further, given the interplay between several
services, greater complementarity and synergies between projects and actions in overlapping domains is
necessary to maximise the effectiveness of these actions in terms of increasing the exporters’ base, which
remains highly concentrated, as well as the export propensity of the Greek economy as a whole. In doing
so, there is a need to develop better export business skills and diversify the export strategy to non-
traditional markets, also focusing on the development of smart specialisation strategies in order to gain
from untapped sectoral and export market opportunities. Registering comparatively larger increases in
exports would also be necessary to keep the current account balance in check as demand for imports picks
up.
In the context of the ongoing technical assistance project for customs authorities provided through
the Commission Services, further work is expected on removing unnecessary procedural
impediments to trade and increasing the openness of the economy.
Specifically, further rationalisation
of cumbersome customs procedures, which entail a significant cost to both businesses and customs
authorities, would be important. To this end, it would be warranted for the authorities to work towards the
promotion of a better-targeted ex-ante control strategy based on a risk analysis approach, whilst
developing and formalising ex-post controls in line with EU best practices. Moreover, resources should
be devoted towards the implementation of a rigorous outreach activity programme to promote the use of
privileged trader status both within the customs network and towards businesses, such as that of
Authorised Economic Operator (AEO). This essentially constitutes a quality label based on reliability,
solvency, trust and internal security criteria that allows for less control and swifter customs procedures, as
well as adhering significant branding benefits in export markets both in the EU and third countries. Whilst
there has been an increase in the number of AEOs in Greece in recent years, the current figure of 148 still
accounts for an low percentage of the trading firms, in comparison with other EU countries.
Investment licensing
On the investment licensing reform, which is part of the specific reform commitments given to the
Eurogroup, significant work is underway by the authorities.
Despite delays in certain areas, the
reform appears to be broadly on track with deadlines on specific investment licensing commitments for
the outer years. Whilst continued efforts to complete reform commitments are welcome, the adequacy of
control mechanisms to contain the risk of potential policy reversal should be ensured. This calls for the
creation of an effective institutional mechanism to safeguard the integrity of critical reform gains
achieved thus far. In particular, progress has been achieved on the following:
The tendering procedure on the relevant ICT system (ILIMS), due to be completed by end-2019, is
progressing again, following the conclusion of an appeal review procedure in April. The authorities
have envisaged to complete the technical evaluation process by the end of May and to proceed with
the financial evaluation of the five eligible offers in June, with a view to signing the contract with the
successful tenderer by September 2019. The first deliverable of the contractor, i.e. the implementation
study, should be made available within six months from the awarding of the contract.
Work on the implementation of the inspections framework law has proceeded in accordance with the
agreed action plan, with the development of relevant horizontal and sector-specific actions, in line
with the objective to finalise the inspection legislation by mid-2020. Further work on the development
of sector-specific tools in certain sectors (food safety and environmental protection) continues with
the support of European Commission technical assistance provided through the World Bank.
40
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 6 - Labour and product markets
Regarding the extension of simplification, by mid-2020, of the investment licencing procedures in the
24 remaining sectors, work on the primary production sector (livestock installations, fish farming,
forestry and veterinary clinics installations) is underway. Whilst progress has been achieved in some
areas, some delays are anticipated in the passing of primary and secondary legislation.
As regards the revision of the nuisance classification, to be completed by mid-2021, the authorities
issued, in February 2019, an inter-ministerial decision setting up a Steering Committee for the project
as well as a Secretary General decision to define the composition and functions of the corresponding
Working Group, in line with the agreed roadmap. Following the operationalisation of these structures,
work is currently underway on the initial definition of nuisance parameters and criteria, with the
participation of the private sector. The authorities are also preparing a contract to secure technical
support for the project through EU funds.
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.
As part of Greece’s reporting obligations
under enhanced surveillance, the Centre of Planning and Economic Research (KEPE) completed in
January 2019 an impact assessment of reforms enacted since 2011 in Greece in the areas of pharmacies,
over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, and Sunday retail trading. Overall, despite a number of constraints,
including data limitations, the interplay of other factors and the relatively short implementation period in
some cases, the analysis suggests that these reforms have already had a positive effect on competition and
job creation, based on indicators such as commodity prices, number of new products or market entrants,
business turnover and employment (see Boxes 6.1and 6.2). KEPE will provide an updated impact
assessment of these reforms in September 2019, which should shed more light on the quantification of
their potential impact, and further, undertake an impact assessment of prior reforms affecting engineers
(including public engineers), lawyers, and private clinics.
The authorities have resumed work on completing key reforms that could foster product market
competition in the area of health.
Following the completion of the reform of day clinics in June 2018,
the Greek authorities enacted, on 9 March 2019, a law on private clinics (4600/2019, FEK A’43), which
had been pending since July 2018. Σhe
law aims to modernise and reform the regulatory framework of
private clinics in a single piece of legislation by revising entry and conduct requirements. Some of its
provisions, including the obligation of private clinics to have a publicly available price list (online and on
site) of the services that they provide, could potentially increase competition in this particular market. In
addition, the new framework introduces greater flexibility by relaxing requirements in a number of areas.
These concern the minimum number of beds per clinic, the maximum permissible period for temporary
suspension of operation, and the ability, under certain conditions, to make conversions to the beds
capacity in clinic departments with a notification to the supervising authority, instead of obtaining a new
license. Moreover, the law introduces some exceptions to previous provisions (presidential decree
247/1991) concerning the need for clinics to operate in separate and autonomous buildings, allowing for
some specific cases of business activity to co-exist within the building. Nevertheless, whilst the
autonomous building requirement has been in place since 1991, approximately 70% of existing clinics do
not meet this requirement, due to lack of legal clarity in the old framework. Whilst the transitional
provisions allow for such clinics to operate on the basis of the license acquired under the previous
legislative framework, all new private clinics, or those that wish to renew or amend their licence have to
adhere to the stricter autonomous building requirement. As a result, the new framework does not address
this dual licensing system. More information about the economic impact of this reform will become
available in September 2019 by the Centre of Planning and Economic Research (KEPE) in the context of
its biannual assessment of key reforms. Beyond private clinics, law 4600/2019 also introduces provisions
about health professions (dentists and physiotherapists) setting, among others, fines for individuals who
exercise the profession without a license, but, there is no particular provision directly affecting the
liberalisation of these professions.
41
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0051.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 6 - Labour and product markets
Box 6.1:
Assessment of the economic impact of selected product market reforms in
pharmacies and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs
Regulatory changes in the sector of pharmacies took place in 2011, 2014 and 2018 and aimed at revising
market entry and operation requirements, mainly by relaxing ownership and population-related
criteria, by lifting minimum-distance restrictions and by extending opening hours.
Based on the analysis
of the Centre of Planning and Economic Research (KEPE) that was completed in January 2019, these reforms
appear to have had an initially positive effect, as reflected in the increased number of market entrants and the
higher employment observed during the period 2011-14 (4.5% more pharmacies and 3.1% more pharmacists
in 2014 compared to 2011). This positive trend was reverted somehow in subsequent years, as both the number
of pharmacies and that of pharmacists decreased by 0.8% and 2.8% respectively during the period 2014-17
(Graph 1, left side). According to the analysis, however, this reversal is associated, in part, to the interplay of
other factors. In particular, while there has been a positive net inflow of pharmacies over the whole reform
period, a significant number of pharmacies exited the sector, notably during the years 2013-15, in response to
announced pension reforms. In terms of turnover of pharmacies, there has been a sharp decrease over the
whole reform period, which is, nevertheless, mostly attributed to price setting adjustments that took place
during the same period to contain public health expenditure. On the other hand, the sales of pharmacies in
volumes have recorded a slight increase since 2011.
Graph 1:
12 000
Number of pharmacies
11 500
Number of pharmacists
370
360
11 000
350
10 500
340
10 000
330
320
310
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2014
2015
2016
2017
Sales value of OTC drugs
Evolution of pharmacies and pharmacists (left), sales of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs (right)
380
EUR mn
9 500
9 000
Source:
ELSTAT, AESGP, 2018 (calculations by KEPE)
In the market of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, reforms were enacted in 2014, 2016 and 2017.
These
led to changes in the classification of drugs in the OTC category (including the introduction of a subcategory
of OTC drugs and the liberalisation of the distribution network for the latter), the establishment of an indicative
retail price and a maximum price for hospitals, and the abolition of profit margin ceilings for wholesalers and
pharmacies. In particular, the reforms resulted in an increase in the number of products that fall under the OTC
category (408 new products in 2014). Moreover, they led to an increase in the number of products classified
under the new OTC drugs subcategory (4 new product codes), which could also be sold by other retailers (e.g.
supermarkets) under specific conditions, increasing consumer options somewhat. In terms of retail price
effects, the impact assessment by KEPE is based on a sample of 69 OTC drugs out of a total 602 drugs, for
which the Ministry of Health provided indicative prices in July 2018 and which, following the 2017 reform,
were computed based on the three lowest prices in the EU (as opposed to five in the past). During the period
from 15 January 2018 to 15 January 2019, 74% of these 69 drugs were sold at a price that was higher than the
indicative retail price in pharmacies all over Greece, but with small variations across pharmacies and products
of the same category. Total sales value (in terms of producer prices) increased by 8% between 2014 and 2017,
possibly owing to the increase in the number of OTC drugs and to greater accessibility due to the liberalisation
of the distribution network for some of these products (Graph 1, right side). The updated assessment by KEPE
in September 2019 is expected to shed more light on price developments, as well as to the entry of new
products into the market.
42
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0052.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 6 - Labour and product markets
Box 6.2:
Assessment of the economic impact of reforms affecting Sunday retail trading
Expanding the shopping opening hours to Sundays in selected areas has been identified as a key reform area
by the institutions and the OECD. Several changes to the regulatory framework of Sunday retail trading were
introduced in 2014, but most of them were suspended by the Council of State. The main reform in this area
took place in May 2017 (Law 4472, FEK A’ 74/19-5-2017)
and allowed for Sunday trading in four regions
(including the touristic areas of Attica and Thessaloniki), as well as the possibility to undertake retail trading
on Sundays in any other region in Greece under specific conditions, while also lifting prior shop size and
ownership criteria. The effectiveness of this reform was analysed by a study conducted by the Centre of
Planning and Economic Research (KEPE) in January 2019. Despite data availability constraints, the short
implementation period of the reform and the fact that it coincided with the general economic upturn, there are
some signs that point to higher competition (new market entrants, a higher share of the sector to total
employment, continued low commodity prices and higher demand). In terms of market dynamism, in 2018
there was a positive net inflow of new businesses (+867 businesses) in the retail sector as a whole, as opposed
to the negative trend observed over the period 2009-2017. Notably, retail trade sectors that are traditionally
affected by Sunday trade (clothing, sports equipment, toys, IT software/hardware, cosmetics/beauty products,
and telecommunication equipment) contributed to this upturn through a net inflow of 320 businesses (with the
former four sectors registering positive net inflows for the first time in 2018 since 2010). In terms of prices,
KEPE notes that the price of three categories of products and services that may have been affected by Sunday
trading (clothes/shoes, durable goods/household appliances and entertainment/cultural activities) continued to
decrease in 2017 and 2018, as opposed to the general consumer price index that had already started increasing
in 2017 (Graph 1). Moreover, the increase in the value of transactions made with electronic cards on Sundays
in areas affected by the reform (+711%) was, during the whole 2016-18 period, much higher than the increase
in the total value of electronic card transactions observed in the same areas (+175%). The share of transactions
conducted with foreign cards on Sundays also increased (reaching 38.1% of total purchases in 2018 compared
to 24.5% in 2017 and 23.3% in 2016).
Graph 1:
Evolution of prices levels (2010 = 100)
105
100
95
CPI
Clothing and footwear
90
Recreation, cultural activities
Durable goods, household appliances & services
85
2010
Source:
ELSTAT
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
Cadastre and land policy
The establishment of a full cadastre in Greece remain a key policy priority for the business
environment.
As part of the June 2018 specific commitments now enshrined under the enhanced
surveillance framework, the Greek authorities committed to complete the cadastre project by mid-2021.
As intermediate steps, they also committed to complete the remaining forest maps by mid-2019 and to
43
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 6 - Labour and product markets
fully establish the cadastral agency and complete 45% of the cadastral mapping by mid-2020. The
authorities have adopted a comprehensive road map in order to achieve these objectives.
The cadastre project has further progressed in recent months.
The Commission has taken the
decision to co-finance with structural funds the last set of contracts (about EUR 84 million). A two-year
technical support contract has also been signed between the Commission and the World Bank in
November 2018 and is under implementation. The staffing of the agency assigned to the management of
the contracts is satisfactory with the exception of IT staff, where it proved difficult to attract a sufficient
number of highly qualified experts. A custom-made monitoring tool (Project Management Information
System) is operational. The declaration of properties for 62% of property rights around the country (phase
IV) is progressing satisfactorily. Hellenic Cadastre has launched an electronic application for property
declaration and payment. Overall, 42 cadastral offices are operating throughout the country to serve
persons that are unable to declare their properties electronically and a major cadastral office has opened in
Athens to facilitate the process.
The preparation of the forest maps (mid-2019 commitment) is on time. Fifteen contracts are
proceeding according to schedule.
As of May 2019, forest maps for 55 % of the territory have been
uploaded, of which maps for 41% of the territory are ratified and the rest is in the public consultation
phase. Forest maps for 43% of the country are under preparation, with the projection that all maps will 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. To strengthen the local forestry offices, 100 specialists (forestry
and agronomists) were recruited for 8-month contracts, and the committees on objections are proceeding
with their work.
In order to accelerate the ratification of the maps, some areas with building settlements within
forest land were temporarily excluded from the maps.
The rationale was to cover the vast majority of
the country with permanent and definitive maps, while the State would decide on how to proceed with the
more controversial areas, where whole settlements were built within forest land at a later stage. However,
a decision of the Council of State in March 2019, after an appeal launched by WWF Greece, states that
these areas of "building concentrations" cannot be excluded from the maps. The authorities have prepared
draft legislation to be urgently introduced in Parliament to address the concerns of the Council of State.
Until then it is not clear if this decision will have an implication on the intermediary commitment to
complete the drawing of the remaining forest maps by mid-2019.
Progress with the establishment of the new institutional framework for the cadastre has been
mixed.
The appointment of the new management team and Board of Directors has progressed somewhat.
A transitional management was appointed a year ago. A migration team was appointed to carry out the
task of integrating the mortgage offices into the new structure, but its capacity remains weak. Regarding
the integration of the mortgage offices into the new structure, two new regional cadastre offices have been
established on 19 April and 14 May (Veria and Karditsa) and are functional replacing the corresponding
mortgage offices. The government is preparing legislation aiming at strengthening the migration team
with sufficient full-time dedicated staff and a detailed plan for the integration of the mortgage offices to
meet the deadlines set with the advice of the World Bank. The next three months will be critical for the
implementation of these actions.
On spatial planning, most of the secondary legislation necessary for the application of the spatial
planning law is completed.
There is no pending legislation that would prevent the completion of spatial
planning in Greece, but the adoption of remaining legislation (Presidential Decree to harmonise older
legislation with Law 4447/2016, and Ministerial Decision with the technical specifications for town
plans) is substantially delayed. More specifically, the Presidential Decree to harmonise older legislation
with Law 4447/2016 has been retained in order to harmonise it with a new legislative framework under
discussion on urban re-development. The technical specifications for town plans are also delayed.
An important issue regards the Local Spatial Plans (LSP). Currently, no Local Spatial Plan is
completed,
two are underway and 353 remain to be executed. A Joint Ministerial Decision for the
44
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0054.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 6 - Labour and product markets
financing the LPS by a European Investment Bank loan is in the process of receiving signatures and an
algorithm for the calculation of the cost of studies has been produced.
Finally, a study with support from the Commission has been signed for the systematisation of
environmental legislation.
This is a complementary action to the cadastre and spatial planning aiming at
better enabling citizens and investors to access and understand environmental legislation.
6.2.2. Network industries
Energy
The second quarter of 2019 saw a wide-ranging energy law passed (
46
), covering several key reform
topics.
In particular, the law set up the framework for the restructuring of the gas company DEPA,
established conditions for the lignite divestiture of the Public Power Company (PPC) and contained
provisions for dealing with extra electricity generation in Crete by facilitating transfer, installation and
operation of specific units to address energy security concerns. However, regarding the Eurogroup
commitments, there was only limited progress.
A key reform underpinning the evolution of the energy markets, the divestiture of PPC’s
lignite
plants, 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. Given that the last bid failed due to offers
being below the valuation, the terms of this round state that a fairness opinion on any offers should be
included, and that the first valuation should not be taken into account, given some of the assumptions it
was based on. Several companies expressed interest in the latest round, though it remains to be seen
whether bids will be made and accepted. A unilateral decision extending the process deadline to 15 July
was made by PPC following consultation with the Ministry of Energy and Environment. As such, the
closure will not be made within the agreed deadline.
Progress with the implementation of the target model for the electricity market has been slow.
Whilst Greece has made some steps forward, such as stakeholder workshops and English-language
translations of the rulebooks, 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,
inter
alia
due to delays from contractors. Some groundwork for coupling with the Bulgarian and Italian
markets has been prepared, but will not go live at least until 2020 due to the domestic delays. Its eventual
implementation will give Greece access to the pan-European electricity market, bringing many benefits
for the security of the system and electricity prices. Related to consumer markets, a planned smart meters
project appears to have stalled; such technology will be helpful in the future should the markets develop
to the point that consumers can respond to pricing movements.
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.
The latest auction of 355
MWh saw higher prices than the previous events. After some concerns about single market rules, a
proposed clause to limit exports was accepted by the Commission, though its impact is not clear. Further
reductions of quantities will follow the successful completion of the lignite plants divestiture. On the
retail side, PPC’s market share
was reduced to some 76.6% in March 2019, down from around 78% in
January, and below the 80.3% at the time of the last report. The market share varies between high,
medium and low voltage customers. Whilst this does reflect progress, the market conditions are still some
way off the goal of PPC’s market share going to below 50% by end-2019.
Consumer prices are still
highly distorted, through the application of social tariffs, which are established to address Greece’s
energy poverty concerns. PPC’s decisions
to reduce the discount for early-paying consumers from 15% to
10% is a positive step in recuperating market price, as well as increasing PPC’s revenue base. The Greek
authorities recently announced a proposal to reduce the VAT on energy to 6%, from the current level of
13%. In another market development, the second flexibility auction, planned for May, did not go ahead.
(
46
) Law 4602/2019 (OJ 95-A/9.3.2019)
45
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 6 - Labour and product markets
Progress with the implementation of energy market reforms has slowed notably during the past few
months.
It is key that the reform of the market stays on course, and important to note that the main
developments are interconnected. It is evident that the deadlines for all the major commitments have been
significantly delayed so far and there is still uncertainty about the direction Greece is heading in.
Taking a wider perspective, the date for the 3
rd
renewable energy (RES) auction has not been set
yet.
Quantities have been established at 300 MW for both solar and wind projects. The RES Account is
still in surplus, but cash flow issues, including its reporting, remain. The surplus is driven by high EU
Emissions Trading System (ETS) CO2 prices. Ongoing/ public consultations carried out by the national
regulator (RAE) are good opportunities to increase the confidence of RES producers in the system, and to
strengthen DAPEEP’s ability to manage this important account. One is on the return to the suppliers of
the 2018 surplus following the abolition of the supplier surcharge, and the other on the calculation and
collection of ETMEAR (Special Duty for Reduction of Gas Emissions) by the RES market operator
(DAPEEP). Beyond the RES Account and auctions, a major factor in the development of renewable
energy sources is licensing. Many stakeholders raise concerns that RES projects have complicated, long-
procedures, which detracts investors. Greece has started work to update its spatial planning, which could
be an opportunity to streamline the process.
Fundamental steps to reform the gas market have been undertaken, both in terms of the
transmission grid and distribution, and efforts should continue.
DESFA, the transmission network,
was sold to private investors at the end of 2018, however adjustments to the final certification by the
energy regulator (RAE) raised concerns. At this stage it appears that these issues have been resolved, and
RAE have passed their final decision that is expected to be officially published shortly, allowing the
investors to move forward with developing new market opportunities. As far as DEPA is concerned, the
splitting of the Commercial and Infrastructure parts of the business took place, in accordance with the
terms of Greece’s new corporate law on mergers. Effective unbundling of network and supply is a
fundamental element of the restructuring so it is important the future ownership of these new ventures
respects this. A liquid and well-functioning gas market remains an opportunity for Greece to play an
international strategic role across various suppliers and routes through both pipelines and liquefied natural
gas, and for the Greek gas market to grow.
Whilst the progress made with the implementation of Crete’s interconnection to the Peloponnese is
positive news, the uncertainty about the status of the Attica-Crete interconnection continued.
The
overall project, linking Attica, Crete, Cyprus and Israel, remains on the list of Projects of Common
Interest (PCI) for now; thus being eligible for EU funding (approximately EUR 300 million to be
allocated to this project), until the formal adoption of the 4th PCI list. However, the electricity
transmission operator (ADMIE) decided to start implementing the Attica-Crete segment as a national
competitive project and Greece did not support the inclusion of the project in the 4th PCI list, therefore
rendering it ineligible for grants under the Connecting Europe Facility. Continued support by the
authorities of the PCI status of the project beyond 2019 could allow taking full advantage of the benefits
deriving from the TEN-E Regulation, such as eligibility for applying for grants under the Connecting
Europe Facility.
The recently-released financial results of PPC for 2018 show a strong decline in profitability and
worsening cash-flow issues.
Higher CO2 prices, a loss of retail market share and the NOME auctions
were identified by PPC and the authorities as the key drivers of the negative results. The lignite plants
subject to the ongoing divestiture further contributed to losses. Whilst results of 2018 are very different
from 2017, when PPC made profits, it seems clear that structural issues remain, and it raises questions
about the size PPC is able to maintain, and about its pricing policy. Whilst higher prices will allow for
PPC to improve its cost recovery, equally important is that it should facilitate the overall competitiveness
of the electricity markets, thereby leading to an increase in the much-needed investments in the sector.
PPC is clearly going to remain the cornerstone of the Greek energy market, but its current path is
worrying, something which is increasingly recognised by PPC’s senior
management. The current quarter
did see some positive news for PPC, with an upgrade of its bonds and securing loans from national and
international financial institutions. It also appears that PPC is seeking an agreement with the authorities
46
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0056.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 6 - Labour and product markets
regarding payments from previous years for Public Service Obligations (PSO), with a decisions expected
by RAE on this matter. Arrears collection showed some improvement, but some structural issues remain
which will be challenging to resolve and will require determined efforts, including regulatory intervention
to address the issue concerning the so-called inactive users (generally low voltage category customers
who have swapped suppliers) that has seen a 20% increase in outstanding payments during 2018.
A fundamental requirement for successful reform of the energy market will be the ability and
willingness of RAE to oversee the market and make the necessary regulatory decisions in a timely
and transparent manner.
The authorities are discussing provisions to increase the independence of its
decision-making (e.g. through liability provisions for its members and staff) as well as to increase its
overall capacity through hiring of new permanent staff. It is important that the adopted provisions will be
fully aligned with EU legislation and practices while also being consistent with and respecting the overall
principles of key public administration reforms adopted during the programme period in Greece. As
recent developments have demonstrated, such as with the NOME auctions and exports, a cooperative
effort between RAE and the European and Greek authorities can deliver results, and it is recommended
such an approach is continued.
Water
In the water sector, an information system has been set up in January 2019 to monitor the
performance of water companies throughout the country through the regular collection of
information.
The functioning and objective of the system is to ensure the sustainability, quality and
affordability of water provision in Greece, which is currently suffering from a lack of transparency,
accountability and coordination across different actors in the sector. The Special Secretariat for Water
(SSW) has dedicated staff to support this system of data collection and analysis. Initial statistics on the
performance of the system covering information for the year 2017 are expected shortly. The system will
include information on cost recovery, infrastructural investments and planned human resources, drinking
water quantity, quality and water losses across the country, among others. The SSW intends to finalise a
strategic and operational plan by the end of June 2019 to streamline its supervisory activities.
Transport and Logistics
A Strategic Transport Master Plan for Greece to identify future policies and investments in the
transport sector is being prepared by the Ministry of Transport.
The plan which is now almost ready
covers all transport modes for the years 2027 and 2037, the necessary supporting planning tools as well as
accompanying capacity building activities. A major problem in the transport sector is that contracts for
new projects are delayed (Athens metro line 4, Patra-Pyrgos motorway, Amvrakia
Aktio highway).
Among the reasons for the delays are low prices and appeals procedures launched by non-selected
bidders. Regarding urban transport, the elaboration of sustainable urban mobility plans will be the
condition for investment in the sector.
On logistics, little progress has been made in the "Thriasio logistics complex" which remains
unutilised.
Once fully operational, this investment
co-financed with EU funds
could give a big boost
to rail freight and the overall competitiveness of the country. However, the concession contract for the
private freight centre has not been activated and the tender for the exploitation and operation of the park
of 1,450 hectares is severely delayed. Urgent measures to expedite these contracts are warranted.
Regarding the transport company of Thessaloniki, OASTH, the legislation in place (
47
) foresees the
liquidation of the company by the end of 2019 and its replacement with a new entity.
A business
plan needs to be prepared as soon as the new entity is established, given also that the Thessaloniki metro
will start operating in 2020 (by a separate company), which will require a new planning of the public
buses network. Preliminary balance-sheet information on 2018 operations, still to be validated by the
general accounting office, show positive signs with an increase in revenues and a reduction in operation
costs and public transfers. Until the new entity is established, the authorities should continue reporting on
(
47
) Law 4482/2017
47
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 6 - Labour and product markets
the management of the company, including its revenues, operation costs and public transfers. The results
of the first semester of 2018 will be published in July 2019.
48
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
7.
7.1.
HELLENIC CORPORATION OF ASSETS AND
PARTICIPATIONS (HCAP) AND PRIVATISATION
HCAP
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 SOE
Boards by mid-2019. The implementation of the strategic plan has proceeded as planned and the Board
review is progressing. Furthermore, the authorities committed to the transfer of the Olympic Athletic
Centre (OAKA) to HCAP but the transfer of OAKA will be delayed due to practical complexities. Since
the publication of the second enhanced surveillance report in February 2019, progress has also been made
in improving corporate governance in the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and in 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.
HCAP is continuing with the implementation of its strategic plan (continuous specific commitment),
which incorporates its overall approach for better management and use of the assets of the Greek
State that became part of its portfolio.
HCAP proceeded in December 2018 to the preparation of its
business plan for 2019-2021, implementing the strategic plan and setting key performance indicators
(KPIs) for its direct subsidiaries and the non-listed other subsidiaries (SOEs with majority participations).
The KPIs include the following areas: enhancement of economic and public value, improvement of
financial performance, corporate governance, improvement of quality of services offered to customers,
operational efficiency and innovation. HCAP has also elaborated the framework for monitoring the KPIs,
and it is following up on the KPIs set for each SOE in which it has majority participation (and which is
not listed) through regular meetings.
HCAP’s real estate portfolio is managed by its subsidiary ETAD, which was restructured
during
2018 (end 2018 specific commitment) with a view to increasing its effectiveness in the management
of real estate assets.
The completion of the restructuring, the arrival of new management executives, and
clearer guidance on short and medium-term objectives, are expected to deliver an improving operational
performance of ETAD in 2019, and to lay the ground for significant value creation over the medium term.
Achieving the full potential of the real estate portfolio will remain a key challenge for HCAP and should
be a primary source of value creation. Given the importance of the real estate portfolio, a thorough set of
performance targets have been set for ETAD in 2019 in order to consolidate and test the effectiveness of
the restructuring. These targets include exploitation, portfolio management and revenue enhancement
objectives and will be quarterly monitored by HCAP. If necessary, corrective actions will be taken in
order to achieve the expected operational performance.
HCAP continues its work on SOEs governance, in particular regarding the review (and
replacement, if needed) of the boards of the SOEs (mid-2019 specific commitment), and improving
internal and external audit capabilities.
The HCAP Board, following the completion of the review of
the Board of Directors of the Athens Urban Transport Organization (OASA) in June 2018, selected the
candidates for the posts of CEO, Chair and three non-executive members in OASA. The General
Assembly of OASA appointed those candidates on 6 May 2019. The HCAP Board further reviewed the
Board of Corinth Canal (AEDIK) and proceeded to the selection of new members, in the cases deemed
necessary. The General Assembly of AEDIK appointed those candidates on 6 May 2019. Candidates for
the post of Chair of the Audit Committee have been selected for almost all SOEs and on-boarding is
gradually taking place in parallel with the process of assessing and staffing the new BoDs as a whole. Up
to the present, HCAP has appointed 39 Board members (executive and non-executive) in its direct and
49
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 7 - Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participations (HCAP) and privatisation
other subsidiaries. HCAP has also focused on improving compliance functions and it is implementing a
standardised method for monitoring reporting financial information within the SOE group with the
purpose of preparing the consolidated financial statements as well as performance on the specific KPIs set
by HCAP.
However, appointing professional members in the Boards of Directors (BoD) in the bigger non-
listed SOEs
in particular executive members
proved to be challenging for HCAP due to
legislative caps on the remuneration of SOE board members (both executive and non-executive).
The caps limit the remuneration that can be offered to prospective members of SOE boards to
uncompetitive levels, considering the level of responsibility and the business activity of some of the
SOEs. To date, this has been a serious issue affecting HCAP’s ability to sustainably attract new BoD
members for SOEs, with implications for the improvement of SOEs’ operations and performance, and
long delays in finding competent candidates, as manifest for example in the difficulties to renew the board
of OASA. It would be warranted to address this shortcoming through a legal amendment, as had been
planned in 2018 but postponed.
In addition to the extensive work on governance, HCAP is increasing its focus on operational
improvements at SOEs following the development of new business plans in 2018.
A key upcoming
challenge will be to effectively address significant operational and financial issues in Hellenic Post
(ELTA), which faces a number of challenges common to postal service operators in many European
countries. A restructuring proposal has been prepared by ELTA's new management and it is under
consultation and review by HCAP and key stakeholders regarding its main parameters.
The implementation of the Coordination Mechanism, which is a key focus area and challenge in
2019, has been launched.
The Coordination Mechanism sets out the procedures and deliverables for
coordination between the State, the HCAP and SOEs, in relation to (i) the SOEs' mandates, which will
define the main activities of each public enterprise (ii) a statement of commitments for each SOE, which
will include the operational and financial objectives that each SOE must adopt to achieve its strategic
goals, and (iii) a performance contract that will clearly reflect the objectives and financing of any special
obligations required by the State.
Effective implementation of the Coordination Mechanism requires the cooperative engagement of
the authorities across all parts of the government.
The Greek authorities have proceeded to
establishing the Cabinet Committee provided for in the Coordination Mechanism and HCAP law, and to
operationalise the mechanism. Representatives of the Cabinet Committee of the Ministry of Finance and
of HCAP met in February 2019 and agreed on the agenda, the schedule and the prioritisation for dealing
with the SOEs for the prompt implementation of the Coordination Mechanism. The implementation of the
Coordination Mechanism was launched with a meeting of the Cabinet Committee with HCAP on 21
February 2019, discussing issues related to the SOEs under the surveillance of the Ministry of Economy
and Development. The implementation of the coordination mechanism for four SOEs, namely the central
markets of Athens and Thessaloniki, the Corinth Canal and Helexpo is at an advanced stage, expected to
be finalised soon. So far, the process runs smoothly. With the setting up of the Cabinet Committee, it
should be possible for the government
to ‘speak with one voice’ to avoid a difficult situation in which
different parts of the government have contrasting priorities regarding activities of SOEs under the
Coordination Mechanism.
Recent legislation and actions in certain sectors appear to potentially overlap with the function of
the coordination mechanism, or to affect HCAP's rights in respect of certain assets transferred to it.
Any inconsistencies would need to be addressed. The Greek authorities have agreed to avoid such actions
in the future. Possible overlaps may also emerge more clearly in the process of implementing the
Coordination Mechanism. Overlaps would need to be removed, in order to give effect to the intent and
balance of the coordination mechanism, along with acts that impinge on the exercise of rights transferred
to the HCAP. In the case of the 23 regional airports, in particular, overlaps should be avoided in the phase
of implementation of any exploitation plans and actions for these airports, since the rights for utilisation
and concession were transferred to HCAP on the basis of article 198 of Law 4389/2016.
50
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 7 - Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participations (HCAP) and privatisation
The transfer of the Olympic Athletic Centre OAKA, which was an end-2018 specific commitment,
proves to be very complex, involving multiple stakeholders as well as a series of administrative and
procurement steps.
These include procurement for the repair or overhaul of significant facilities, in order
to ensure that the asset is provided in a satisfactory condition. Given the complexities and involvement of
third parties, an adjusted timetable for the transfer by end-2020 appears reasonable, while the process
needs to be pursued as diligently as possible.
7.2.
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ASSET DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Implementation of the Asset Development Plan (ADP) of the Hellenic Republic Asset Development
Fund (TAIPED) 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 ADP, 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, in view of 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, Lamda.
If the authorities continue the strong
efforts, financial closing could be feasible in the coming months. The current state of play on key
elements is as follows:
The tender process for awarding the casino license is ongoing. The deadline for submission of offers
has been further extended to the end of June.
The public consultation of the Integrated Environmental Impact Assessment Study was launched on
21 March 2019 and it has been concluded on 14 May 2019. The conclusion of the public consultation
is a necessary precondition prior to the issuance of the Joint Ministerial Decisions for the Metropolitan
Park, development zones and the urban planning zones. Within the framework of the required work,
on 17 May 2019, the first meeting of the Central Administration Council for the discussion of the
Joint Ministerial Decisions for the Metropolitan Park, development zones and urban planning zones
was held.
Preparatory work regarding the partition of the Hellinikon site is ongoing (pending issues with the
Cadastre are expected to be resolved).
Progress on other transactions in the Asset Development Plan which are due to be completed in
2019 is behind schedule, with progress in smaller transactions, but delays elsewhere.
On a positive
note, challenges related to the regional ports were resolved, and there was some progress in removing
obstacles to the Egnatia motorway concession project. In contrast, outcome of the transaction for the sale
of 50.1% of Hellenic Petroleum was unsuccessful, while complications have arisen on the sale of 30% of
AIA and no progress was made on the sale of 11% of EYDAP and 24% of EYATH. The state of play can
be summarised as follows:
Marina of Alimos
(a mid-2019 specific commitment): the marina of Alimos is one of the largest marinas
in the South-Eastern Mediterranean, located on the South-Eastern waterfront of Athens. Three consortia
participated in an e-auction procedure that took place on 16 April 2019. The preferred bidder (AKTOR
Concessions SA) won the tender by offering EUR 57.5 million in NPV terms (a nominal offer of EUR
177 million in total). Thus, satisfactory progress is being made in the tender for the long-term concession
of the marina of Alimos, however the financial closing is not expected before Q4-2019.
Hellenic Petroleum (HELPE,
a mid-2019 specific commitment): No binding offers were submitted
for the joint sale (along with the other strategic shareholder of HELPE, PanEuropean Oil and
51
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 7 - Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participations (HCAP) and privatisation
Industrial Holdings S.A. (POIH) of a majority stake (50.1%) and thus there was no positive outcome
of the specific transaction. The financial closure is thus inevitably subject to significant delays. Within
the framework of the third enhanced surveillance round and with a view to minimising the time
delays, an agreement was reached between the Greek authorities and the institutions that TAIPED is
given the technical mandate to explore all options available towards proceeding with the transaction.
A discussion on the structure of the tender between the Greek authorities and the institutions is
expected in the context of the 4
th
enhanced surveillance cycle.
Sale of 30% of AIA:
According to the Airport Development Agreement (ADA) in place, any transfer of
shares exceeding 25% of AIA’s share capital requires the consent of all existing shareholders. In this
context, complications arose from a decision of the Greek authorities, more specifically the Governmental
Council for Economic Policy (KYSOIP) in February 2019, which instructed TAIPED to proceed with the
execution of a new waiver agreement, with provisions substituting the independent member of the nine-
member Board with a member appointed by the Hellenic Republic, thus increasing the number of Board
members appointed by the State. This new agreement request was rejected by AviAlliance, shareholder of
40% stake in AIA, as it considers the independent Board member as a key element of the balanced
governance of the company. In the context of the mission of 6-8 May 2019, the Greek authorities agreed
to seek an immediate resolution of the issue, so that the signing of the waiver agreement would be
possible by mid-June and the launching of the tender process for the sale of 30% of AIA by 30 June 2019,
day of expiration, proposed by the private shareholders of AIA, of the Initial Waiver agreement. To date,
this action is still pending.
DEPA - Public Gas Corporation:
The law on DEPA’s
corporate restructuring (Law 4602/2019 which
amended Law 4001/11, the “Energy Law”) enabling the split of DEPA’s commercial and infrastructure
(networks and international projects) activities was enacted on 9 March 2019. According to article 80I of
the Energy
Law, a partial demerger of DEPA’s gas distribution branch shall take place, by which all
distribution gas activities of DEPA, along with the international projects in which DEPA participates, will
be transferred to a separate legal entity (“DEPA Infrastructure”), the shares of which will be transferred
proportionately to the DEPA current shareholders (TAIPED 65% - HELPE 35%). All current wholesale
and retail gas activities of DEPA, including any existing or future commercial commitments deriving
from the international projects in which DEPA participates, will remain under DEPA, which will be
renamed to “DEPA Commercial SA”. On 22 April, DEPA’s BoD approved the partial demerger of
DEPA’s Infrastructure activities from DEPA. It is essential that the status
of the contracting staff to be
allocated between the two entities will be clarified as a matter of urgency in order to avoid this to be an
area of uncertainty/risk for the tender. Further, pursuant to article 80ΙΓ paragraph 1 of the Energy Law,
and in line with the agreement reached between the Greek authorities and the institutions, TAIPED will
issue an invitation for the expression of interest for the sale of 50% plus one share of the share capital of
DEPA Commercial even prior to the completion of DEPA’s
partial demerger. It should be also noted that
Hellenic Petroleum, DEPA’s co-shareholder,
is in the process of formulating its strategic role in the
imminent sale process (buyer or seller), that has to be compliant with term sheet agreed on DEPA’s
transformation and privatisation, in particular concerning unbundling.
Egnatia:
The privatisation process for the Egnatia motorway entails the award of a long-term concession
for the operation and maintenance of the motorway and its three vertical axes. The transaction has been
characterised by systematic delays and problems, whereas over the last months of 2018 the transaction
had been effectively blocked. In January 2019, within the framework of the second enhanced surveillance
round, the authorities had agreed to a number of actions to be swiftly implemented in order 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. This includes notably the adoption of Egnatia’s
budget, the completion of
the parliamentary procedure for the appointment of the CEO of Egnatia, the submission by Egnatia of all
pending files to the Tunnel Licencing Authority and the submission of necessary information on the toll
pricing policy to the Commission.
52
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 7 - Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participations (HCAP) and privatisation
A number of actions are still needed before the submission of binding offers:
Launch and completion of the construction of all remaining frontal and lateral toll stations. The
relevant contracts were signed on 2 May 2019.
Specification by
the Tunnel Licencing Authority (based on Egnatia’s submissions) of the measures
that need to be implemented in order for the tunnels to be licensed. Once this is done and the cost of
necessary works is calculated the concession agreement will specify who will implement the works
and who will assume the relevant risk.
Obtaining a clear picture on what works needs to be done for bridges to be classified as safe. Very
recently (March 2019) some of the motorway’s bridges were classified by Egnatia S.A. as “potentially
dangerous”, although there has been no apparent change in the state of the bridges. Egnatia needs to
clearly define the measures that must be taken as well as the cost for the bridges to be completely safe.
Once this is done, the concession agreement will specify the allocation of risk between the
Concessionaire and the State.
Clearance of the new toll pricing policy by the Commission.
Resolution of the open issues related to the motor service stations contracts re. Eleftherochori,
Oraiokastro, Ardanio and Sostis, that have been inactive since 2011, by Egnatia S.A..
Egnatia needs to proceed to the necessary actions (tender for advisor appointment) for all the
preparatory work necessary for the remaining expropriations. While the completion of the
expropriation process with issuance of Ministerial Decisions is not a prerequisite for binding offers or
for Concession Commencement Date, and it is handled accordingly in the Concession Agreement, the
process should be initiated promptly.
The above actions need to be completed before the submission of binding offers in order for the
Concession Agreement to be adequately balanced without any of the two parties (Concessionaire or State)
assuming excessive risks.
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). Following a
lengthy process, as reported in the second enhanced surveillance report, an agreement on the final text of
the required legislative changes was reached on 21 January 2019. Following the enactment of the agreed
legal amendments on 21 February, TAIPED elaborated proposals for the sub-concessions of the ports of
Alexandroupolis and Kavala. The Expression of Interest for the two ports, however can only be launched
following the issuance of a Joint Ministerial Decision by the ministries of Shipping and Finance that will
define the specific activities to be subject to the sub-concession as well as the fees to be paid by the sub-
concessionaires to the relevant port authorities. The issuance of the relevant Joint Ministerial Decision is
pending.
53
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
8.
8.1.
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND JUSTICE
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
8.1.1. Appointments of senior management positions
A specific commitment for mid-2019 is for an independent assessment of the selection process of
Administrative Secretaries, with follow-up measures to be adopted by September 2019.
As noted in
the last enhanced surveillance report, the selection process has been subject to significant delays, which
the authorities attributed to several reasons, including the importance and high visibility of this
appointment cycle, which is carried out for the first time. Given the difficulties faced, including the re-
launching of 22 calls in June 2018 due to a lack of clearly defined minimum eligibility criteria, the
independent assessment is expected to take stock of the selection process and to identify scope for
improvements. The authorities have requested technical support from the Commission and the assessment
is planned to be completed by June 2019. The authorities intend to establish a high-level working group,
involving officials from the Ministry of Administrative Reform (MAR) and the Supreme Council for
Civil Personnel Selection (ASEP), that will review the results of the assessment and also decide on the
follow-up measures to be adopted by September 2019 in order to improve the selection process for the
next appointment cycle.
The state of play on the various appointment cycles for public sector managers at the end of May
2019 was as follows:
(i) Administrative Secretaries
one appointment out of 69 completed (expected to
be completed by end of 2019); (ii) Directors-General
completed (90 posts in total); (iii) Directors
101
appointments out of 395 completed (expected to be completed by July 2019); and (iv) Heads of Division
expected to be launched in June 2019 and completed by October 2019. Although progress has been
made during this reporting period, in particular as concerns appointments of Directors, overall significant
delays are observed vis-à-vis the initial completion targets and it is highly doubtful if the revised target of
completing all selection decisions by end-2019 for the Administrative Secretaries will be met.
8.1.2. Improving the human resource management in the public administration
A second specific commitment for mid-2019 is completion of the third mobility cycle that was
launched in August 2018.
The implementation of the mobility scheme is progressing. This cycle saw a
continued gradual increase in the number of entities seeking transfers of staff (165) as well as the number
of published vacant posts (5,440). To date, 223 transfers (out of 744 selection decisions) and 12
secondments (out of 48 selection decisions) have been completed. Although compared to the previous
two cycles, which are yet to be completed, the time needed from publication of post to selection decision
and then the actual appointment taking place has been significantly shortened, there is a risk that a
significant part of the expected transfers (and secondments) will not be completed by the end of June
2019. As concerns the fourth cycle (published in February 2019) the number of entities taking part (351)
and positions (7,962) continue to increase. This reporting period also saw a number of legal amendments
adopted that allow specific general government entities to be exempted from the mobility scheme. The
authorities argue that most of these exemptions are time restricted, in order to avoid causing operational
difficulties until all entities are in a position to take part in the mobility scheme. In summary, although
there is a risk that the third mobility cycle will not be completed by mid-2019, the gradual increase of
number of entities and applications for each cycle is encouraging and a clear signal that the public sector
has embraced this public administration reform. At the same time, it is warranted to continue closely
monitoring and addressing specific issues identified that are currently delaying the process.
A third specific commitment concerns the completion of the performance assessments for 2018 by
mid-2019.
The assessment round was launched in March 2019 and is expected to be completed by end of
June 2019 as per the circular issued by MAR.
55
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0065.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 8 - Public administration and justice
Continued progress has been made towards establishing an integrated human resources
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).
Given the importance of completing this exercise, it will be important to continue monitoring its progress,
in particular as concerns (i) ensuring that entities that have completed their digital organigrams also
proceeds to complete all job descriptions; and (ii) providing timely support to entities (e.g. small
municipalities) that are struggling to complete the exercise for capacity reasons. Once this exercise has
been successfully completed, it will provide the main elements for the integrated human resources
management system, as it will allow for each job holder to have a position and specific job description
assigned to them as well as setting out the entity/unit the job holder currently works for.
Progress with the streamlining of the existing job classification system (‘klados’), with a view to
aligning it to the functions referred to in the generic job descriptions, has been limited.
The
authorities have committed to a specific 'road map', and some progress has been made on specific actions,
including holding the first meeting of an inter-ministerial pilot working group to update/validate the
linking of ‘klados’ with the
functional domains of the job description template. The authorities are urged
to speed up the implementation of the various actions during the next months, also taking full advantage
of the technical support provided.
8.1.3. Better regulation and coordination
Progress has been made in terms of legal codification, including with the adoption of a law that
strengthens the mandate of the Central Codification Committee (KEK).
Two manuals on legal and
administrative codification were prepared. Steps to ensure close and efficient coordination between the
two codification strands (led by KEK and MAR respectively) have been undertaken, particularly in the
context of the national codification strategy, and it will be essential to ensure close coordination also at
the operational level, in order to avoid duplication of work and take full advantage of potential synergies.
The adopted legal provisions for KEK (
48
), includes the legal codifications that KEK has currently
committed to oversee following agreement with respective Ministries (
49
). As the actual codifications
might be done by a third party (e.g. through a project funded by the National Strategic Reference
Framework), it is essential that such legal codification projects are implemented applying the overall
approach and methodology set out by KEK. The authorities are therefore urged during the next reporting
period to adopt a standard agreement template between KEK and the Ministries, which will set out in
detail KEK’s role, including reviewing the output. With solid
progress being made in establishing a
coherent process for the conduct of the legal codification process, it will also important to ensure that
sufficient resources are allocated at the General Secretariat of the Government, including its Central
Legislative Committee, as well as the legal services of each Ministry. Finally, the approval decision that
will allow the tender for the flagship project to set up a digital codification portal was taken in March
2019, and the tender is expected to be launched by June.
A specific commitment for mid-2020 is for the legal codification of a unified Labour Law Code and
Code of Labour Regulatory Provisions.
The Ministry of Labour has proceeded to establish a specific
committee to take the lead in preparing these legal codifications, on the basis of the drafts already
prepared through technical support provided by Commission services. At the same time, exchanges have
been taking place also with KEK on how to align these specific codifications with the overall
approach/methodology overseen by KEK. An updated timeline is expected to be presented in the coming
months and following successful conclusion of the ongoing exchanges between the Ministry of Labour
and KEK.
On inter-ministerial coordination no concrete progress on actions has been reported by the
authorities following the adoption of an inter-ministerial manual that was adopted in June 2018.
An
(
48
) Law 4606/2019 (OJ A-57/11.4.2019)
(
49
) Article 8, Law 4606/2019 (OJ A-57/11.4.2019)
56
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0066.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 8 - Public administration and justice
update on actions initiated and for actions to be launched is expected to be prepared by the General
Secretariat for Coordination, in order to be reported in the next enhanced surveillance round.
8.1.4. Controlling the size and cost of public sector
The hiring plan for 2019 as well as for 2020-2022, as included in the 2018 Medium-Term Fiscal
Strategy (MTFS), seems to be respecting the one-in-one out hiring rule currently in place for
recruitments of new permanent staff in the public sector.
Following the adoption of the MAR law (
50
),
which introduced provisions for a more strategic recruitment planning, MAR is in the process of
consolidating the first four-year recruitment plan that will be coupled with the MTFS and the budget
allocated for new hirings, while updated annual plans will be consolidated and submitted by MAR each
year. As the law was adopted in early 2019, the initial exercise is taking place during the spring, but as
concerns the next cycle it would be important, as foreseen in the law, to link the four-year and annual
plans with the budget cycle. The next enhanced surveillance report is expected to include an overview of
the key elements of the four-year plan.
The ceiling for temporary staff set for 2018 was not respected, and it will be important for this
trend to be reined in during 2019.
As reported in the previous enhanced surveillance report, it is
estimated that the number of temporary staff will need to be reduced by approximately 1,550 persons in
order for the overall size of the public sector to be maintained.
The agreed actions to improve the reporting of the census ('apografi') are yet to be implemented.
These cover the inclusion of data on (i) flows of permanent staff of legal entities of private law; and (ii)
temporary staff of legal entities of private law being paid by the National Strategic Reference Framework
and/or other sources. It would also be warranted to update the 'apografi' website with monthly staff
figures covering 2019, and to restore the reporting to the regularity of previous years.
In terms of continuing the institutional and legal reforms associated to the unified wage grid,
various actions remain pending.
For example, as concerns the special wage grid (
51
), the Joint
Ministerial Decision (Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to set up a coherent approach
on how the allowance for service abroad is being calculated has yet to be taken, although a detailed
proposal has been prepared for some time. In addition, it is important that the third phase of the Single
Payment Authority reform is initiated that will see it becoming mandated to carry out also the actual
clearing, besides executing the payments, of all salaries paid to public officials. This would entail,
amongst other, (i) adoption of the approval decision for a project funded by the National Strategic
Reference Framework to set up the needed IT infrastructure; and (ii) legal amendment adopted that will
extend the Single Payment Authority's mandate to allow for the clearing of salaries for all general
government entities covered by the unified wage grid. A third item is for MAR to proceed to set up a
system to allow for supplementary compensation linked to the job description and the evaluation of the
position as foreseen in the unified wage grid (
52
). Given that the digital organigram and job description
exercise is expected to be completed by end of 2019, if the preparatory work is completed during the next
months it would allow for this provision to be applied as of next year. Finally, a Joint Ministerial
Decision is expected to be adopted by July 2019 that will establish a more coherent framework as
concerns hazardous allowances, although to date the expected scenarios to be prepared by the inter-
ministerial committee are yet to be finalised.
Recently adopted salary provisions pose risks to the unified wage grid, and a number of decisions to
complete this reform remain pending.
Salary provisions adopted to extend the payment of 'personal
differences' were further extended both in time and scope to also cover the Ministry of Economy and
Development (
53
). Although the actual fiscal cost is small, this raises structural problems and fiscal risk,
(
50
)
(
51
)
(
52
)
(
53
)
Law 4590/2019 (OJ A-17/7.2.2019)
Article 144, Law 4472/2017 (OJ A-74/19.5.2017)
Article 17, Law 4354/2015 (OJ A-176/16.12.2015)
Article 57, Law 4605/2019 (OJ A-52/1.4.2019)
57
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0067.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 8 - Public administration and justice
as other Ministries may seek similar salary provisions. Establishing a unified wage grid was one of the
key reforms implemented under the financial assistance programmes.
There are ongoing discussions on legal provisions for specific independent authorities that if
adopted would allow for significant deviation from key public administration reforms adopted
during the programme period.
While specific provisions might be needed in order for the various
authorities to be in a position to attract and maintain highly qualified personnel needed to carry out its
function, a preferable approach would be to base it on the various public administration reforms in place
(e.g. appraisal, job descriptions, mobility system) and build on these blocks through respecting the overall
principles. In the event, specific salary provisions are being considered, it would again be preferable if
these provisions would be part of a systematic approach to certain entities (e.g. independent authorities)
rather than
ad hoc
exceptions of the unified wage grid. If the latter approach is adopted, which could
amongst other entail deviation from the current norm that the personal differences are being accounted for
under the remuneration thresholds defined by the unified wage grid, this risks setting a precedent and
could result in a significant increase of the wage bill. Similarly, a more strategic approach would also be
preferable as concerns adjustments on the hiring process of permanent staff, in particular as regards the
role and mandate of the Supreme Council for Civil Personnel Selection (ASEP).
8.2.
JUSTICE
E-justice
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.
The second phase, scheduled for finalisation by mid-2020, will extend
coverage to the entire territory of Greece, also building on the experience acquired during the roll-out of
the first phase. In this context, completion of the tendering procedure for the electronic filing of legal
documents to the courts is a mid-2019 specific commitment. The special permanent legislative committee
responsible for legal adaptations for the purposes of optimal implementation and efficiency of OSDDY-
PP, established in February 2019 (
54
), should initiate the proceedings for the public consultation, on the
public procurement platform (www.promitheus.gov.gr), of the draft tender texts regarding the projects of
the second phase by end-June 2019. Upon conclusion of the public consultation and finalization of the
tender, the tendering procedure should be launched by end-September 2019. Furthermore, the
implementation of the electronic filing of court documents (legal writs), already available in 18 magistrate
courts throughout Greece, as well as in the Court of Audit, the Council of State and first- and second-
instance administrative courts, is proceeding, as evidenced by a recent notice addressed by the Athens Bar
Association to its members and covering the filing of legal writs, memoranda and means of evidence (
55
).
In parallel, the work of the law-drafting committee for the enactment of the legal amendments to the
Greek Code of Civil Procedure and the Judicial Bailiffs’ Code that
are necessary for allowing the
electronic service of documents is progressing, along with the setting up of the requisite electronic
platform by the judicial bailiffs’ association in collaboration with the Thessaloniki University regarding
the technical aspects of the project. The implementation of this new method of service of documents
should facilitate their processing, optimize the unhindered conduct of the relevant judicial procedures and
reduce costs, particularly taking into account entities on which a large number of services is regularly
made, such as banks, State entities and services, the Legal Council of State, etc.
Alternative dispute resolution
With a view to addressing the issues created by a postponement, from mid-October 2018 to mid-
September 2019, of the entry into force of the provisions on mandatory mediation, the Greek
Ministry of Justice established a working group to draw up a report on mediation and
(
54
) Ministerial Decision 12695/F327/2019 of the Minister of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights
(
55
) Athens Bar Association announcement of 16.2.2019,
cf. Athens Bar Association Announcement of Electronic Filing of
Procedural Documents
58
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0068.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 8 - Public administration and justice
arbitration (
56
).
The working group is chaired by a Supreme Court judge and includes the chairman of
the Plenary Session of Greek Bar Associations, a representative of the Association of Judges and
Prosecutors, mediators, judges and representatives of the Ministry of Justice. There group has so far held
five meetings, addressing a range of relevant issues: the cost of the mediation process, the disputes
eligible for compulsory mediation, possible changes in the legal framework of judicial mediation, the
status of judicial arbitration and the manner in which the three alternative dispute resolution mechanisms
(extra-judicial and judicial mediation, judicial arbitration) can coexist and interact without overlapping.
Work by the Central Committee of Mediation (CCM) is progressing.
A new Chairman of the CCM
has been appointed, and weekly sessions are held. The CCM has conducted a competition and certified
about 340 new mediators, approved the functioning of new training centres, including the first training
center of the University of Athens, recognized certified intermediaries from other Member States under
the new simplified procedure and is in the process of drafting a proposal to the Ministry of Justice for
legislative improvements of the law on mediation (
57
). Mediations under Law 4512/2018 (regarding the
categories of disputes for which mediation is not compulsory) are taking place normally, according to the
Ministry of Justice referring to market information.
In the area of anti-corruption, the authorities have continued their efforts, led by the General
Secretariat for Anti-corruption (GSAC).
The legal initiatives promoted by GSAC are yet to be
introduced to the Parliament. As concerns progress on implementing the National Anti-corruption Action
Plan for 2018-2021 the bi-annual report prepared by GSAC provides a detailed overview of key actions
carried out. The next progress report will cover the period January-June 2019 and is also expected to
update the timeline to reflect that a certain number of actions have been delayed due to contractual issues
outside the direct control of GSAC. One key action where little progress has been made to date concerns
the establishment of a coordination mechanism for corruption cases. During the next reporting it is
expected that GSAC will be in a position to define and commit to a specific road map to deliver on this
important action, including adopting the legal framework needed. Other actions included in the National
Anti-corruption Action Plan where some progress has been made but where follow-up actions are
expected, includes establishing a more unified framework for controlling bodies and also for the asset
declaration system. As concerns the three legislative initiatives that had been expected to be submitted to
the Parliament by May 2019, these includes: (i) whistleblowing (will be aligned with the EU Directive
currently being finalised); (ii) internal auditing across the public administration; and (iii) an update of
GSAC's mandate, including establishment of its organigram. It is expected that all three laws will be
adopted in the next couple of months, but especially important is for the law on internal auditing to be
adopted shortly, in order to be in place before the newly elected local administrations assume their
function. GSAC has also contributed to the preparation of the updating of the Penal Code and Code of
Penal Procedure that are yet to be adopted by suggesting the inclusion of references to GRECO and
OECD practices to combat corruption. Finally, as concerns the action relating to the role and operations
of the anti-fraud coordination service (AFCOS), although progress is being made the Commission is not
yet in a position to confirm that the system set up for Greece fully meets the requirements expected.
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 officially published on 8 March 2019; the delay for filing an appeal against it
expired on 9 April2019. A certificate attesting to the non-filing of an appeal by the Supreme Court
Prosecutor by that date was issued on 10 April 2019 and delivered to A. Georgiou’s counsel.
Consequently, the ruling stands in force and the excessive deficit case has been irrevocably dismissed.
This is a very welcome development. Regarding other pending cases involving Mr. A. Georgiou, an
appeal introduced by him, in his quality as an appellant-defendant in a civil case against a first-instance
court decision that found for the claimant in a defamation lawsuit, is scheduled to be heard in May 2019.
Regarding the CoEx, there has been a positive development since the last enhanced surveillance report, in
(
56
) Ministerial Decision 5543/F.326/24.1.2019 (OJ YODD-56/11.2.2019)
(
57
) Law 4512/2018 (OJ A-5/17.1.2018 and A-8/23.1.2018)
59
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 8 - Public administration and justice
the form of the issuance of a favourable ruling by the chamber formation of the Athens Court of Appeal
(not yet published). upon publication, it may be appealed by the Supreme Court Prosecutor. The
Commission will continue to closely monitor developments in both procedures to report back in the
context of enhanced surveillance.
60
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0070.png
9.
9.1.
SOVEREIGN FINANCING AND CAPACITY TO REPAY
SOVEREIGN FINANCING
After the successful bond issuance in January, Greece tapped the markets for a second time in
March 2019.
On 1 March, Moody’s improved Greece’s credit rating by two notches from B3 to B1
acknowledging the consolidation of the economic recovery. Taking advantage of the improving market
environment, the Public Debt Management Agency decided to go forward with the issuance of a 10-year
government bond raising EUR 2.5 billion at a re-offered yield of 3.9% and a coupon rate of 3.875%. This
has been the first market issuance of a Greek government bond with such a long maturity since 2010. The
demand was strong with high real money participation.
Despite the successful conclusion of the programme and the release of the debt measures related to
the end-2018
commitments, Greece’s yield spreads remain elevated.
After a positive momentum
recorded after the issuance of the 10-year government bond, in the more recent period Greek bonds
experienced pressure in particular after the announcements made by Prime Minister Tsipras on 7
th
May.
Following the announcements, bond yields increased on all maturities by around 30 basis points. While
yields have somewhat receded after mid-May, still Greek bonds underperformed when compared to other
euro area issuers. This suggests that some of the risk premia are related to domestic factors, and may
signal investor concerns over recent fiscal decisions, in addition to the more persistent factors such as
weaknesses in the banking sector.
Graph 9.1:
S&P,
Fitch
AAA
AA+
AA
AA-
A+
A
A-
BBB+
BBB
BBB-
BB+
BB
BB-
B+
B
B-
CCC+
CCC
CCC-
CC
C
D
2007
2008
2011
2015
2009
2010
2012
2013
2014
Greece's credit ratings and yield spreads compared to the Bund
Moody's
Aaa
Aa1
Aa2
Aa3
A1
A2
A3
Baa1
Baa2
Baa3
Ba1
Ba2
Ba3
B1
B2
B3
Caa1
Caa2
Caa3
Ca
C
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
%
10 year gov ernment bond spreads to the Bund
Moody's
S&P
Fitch
2019
2016
2017
2018
Portugal
Ireland
Greece
Italy
Source:
European Commission, Macrobond
Furthermore, in February the Public Debt Management Agency replaced a loan with the National
Bank of Greece of EUR billion outstanding (the so-called TITLOS interest rate swap, depicted as a
loan according to Eurostat decisions), with three private placements totalling EUR 3.3 billion.
Greece managed to reduce its debt by EUR 0.7 billion as the exchange was performed in market terms.
Overall, the state cash reserves stood high at EUR 24.3 billion at the end of March; including the cash
reserves of general government entities already on the treasury single account, the reserves reached EUR
33.7 billion. The cash buffer account remained undrawn in the first quarter. According
to the authorities’
plan, the state cash reserves would be reduced to around EUR 18.3 billion by March 2020, corresponding
to a general government reserve of EUR 25.9 billion, assuming the early repayment of a part of the IMF
loan, financed partially through the cash buffer account. An IMF repayment and use of the cash buffer in
this way would require certain approvals by ESM and EFSF governing bodies.
State liquidity remains sufficient to cover financing needs for more than two years,
even without
new issuances. According to data provided by the authorities, state reserves are projected to decrease to
EUR 15.9 billion by the end of 2019 without new issuances. Given the limited financing needs in 2020
and 2021, the estimated reserves would cover the state debt-financing needs well into 2022.
61
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0071.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter 9 - Sovereign financing and capacity to repay
9.2.
DEBT SUSTAINABILITY
A technical update (
58
) of the debt sustainability analysis shows that the assessment of the
sustainability of Greece's debt is broadly unchanged.
This assumes compliance with primary balance
targets and the full implementation of all medium-term measures to ensure debt sustainability agreed in
June 2018. The baseline scenario shows that debt will remain on a downward path (save for the
capitalisation of the deferred interest in 2033), but remains above 100% of GDP until 2048. A technical
update of the adverse scenario shows that debt starts rising again after the mid-2030s.
Graph 9.2:
200
%
Gross government debt
40
35
%
Gross financing needs
160
30
120
25
20
80
Adverse scenario
Baseline scenario
15
10
5
0
2018
2020
2022
2024
2026
2028
2030
2032
2034
2036
2038
2040
2042
2044
2046
2048
2050
2052
2054
2056
2058
2060
sustainability
40
Adverse scenario
Baseline scenario
0
Source:
European Commission
Under the baseline scenario, Greece’s gross
financing needs (GFN) are set to hover around 10% of
GDP until 2032.
Thereafter, the GFN start to increase slowly, but are projected to remain around 17% of
GDP at the end of the forecast horizon. In the adverse scenario, the GFN reach 20% in 2041 and increase
further thereafter. At the current juncture, it is not possible to fully incorporate the recent fiscal measures
into the DSA as further analysis is required on the impact of such measures on growth and more clarity is
required on the future orientation of policies over the medium-term. Policy slippage, however, would
have a negative impact on the trajectory of debt, especially if this led to a situation whereby additional
debt measures are not implemented. For example, based on the macroeconomic assumptions of the
baseline scenario, a 1 percentage point deviation from the agreed target primary surplus of 3.5 of GDP
from 2019 to 2022 would
ceteris paribus
result in a higher debt-to-GDP ratio by over 25 percentage
points by 2060.
(
58
) The technical update includes: updated debt data for 2018, updated macroeconomic scenarios and assumptions on risk free
rates, updated interest and amortization payments on Greek Loan Facility as well as other, non-official loans, new bond
issuances and an updated privatisation schedule.
62
2019
2021
2023
2025
2027
2029
2031
2033
2035
2037
2039
2041
2043
2045
2047
2049
2051
2053
2055
2057
2059
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
ANNEX
63
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0073.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter - Annex
Commitment
Mid-2019 specific commitments
Fiscal.
Adopt MTFS in line with fiscal
targets
State of play and next steps
The primary surplus monitored under enhanced surveillance reached 4.3% of GDP, well above the target of 3.5% of GDP.
Greece’s Stability Programme was submitted on 30 April 2019 and represents the national medium-term
fiscal plan under
Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) 473/2013. On 15 May 2019, thus after the submission of the Stability Programme, the authorities
adopted a package of new permanent fiscal measures which the European institutions estimate will have a fiscal cost of more than
1% of GDP. The adoption of the new fiscal measures poses a risk to the achievement of the agreed primary surplus target of 3.5%
of GDP in 2019 and beyond.
The European institutions are supporting the authorities to address the reasons for the under-execution of budget ceilings, which
contribute to the over-achievement of fiscal targets, by further improving the budget preparation process, enhancing the capacity
of the General Accounting Office (staffing, training, resources) to properly scrutinise budget proposes of the main budgetary
units, and to establish a unified approach to budgetary planning by transferring responsibility for the setting of investment
spending targets to the General Accounting Office.
Health care
Clawbacks.
Complete the
offsetting and collection of the clawback
for 2018
For pharmaceuticals, the process of offsetting/collection has started. As of early May, 357 out of 580 million (62%) remained to
be collected. The quantification of clawbacks for provider services has not been finalised yet. Despite improvements in
collection, the generation of new clawbacks is high, which underlines the need for more sustained efforts to implement structural
measures designed to curb supply-induced demand. Some recent measures on pricing weaken one of the most effective cost-
containment mechanisms thus far (the previously biannual repricing procedure).
Progress has been made in setting up the Valuation unit and developing the tools for valuations. Following a Technical
Assistance study, there has been agreement that a new nationwide valuation exercise by valuers is not needed in 2019, but that a
further partial realignment of zonal property tax values will be undertaken by mid-2019 to bring them 50% closer to the market
price valuations established in 2018. The authorities need to prepare the detailed timetable for this update to take place and the
associated fiscal analysis of the realignment exercise that would allow the setting of revenue neutral tax rates and thresholds.
Taxation–ENFIA.
Undertake
nationwide valuation exercises of
property tax value based on market
values
64
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0074.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter - Annex
Public financial management.
Avoid
the accumulation of new arrears and
complete the implementation of reforms
identified by the Hellenic Court of
Auditors (HCA)
The authorities committed to clear the current stock of arrears. In net terms, the stock stood at EUR 1.4 billion at end-March
2019, EUR 0.3 billion lower than the end-August 2018 value. The pace of reduction has slowed significantly, as new arrears
continue to be created especially in the areas of pension claims and hospitals. In order to streamline payment processes in these
sectors, the financial liability regime for accountants has been modified and corrective measures are expected to be adopted.
Programme financing and own resources are still utilised to clear arrears. Stuck programme financing has been reallocated within
some entities. As some programme funds remained unused by the end of March 2019, the period for their utilisation was
extended until May 2019. The updated arrears clearance plan prepared by the authorities shows that net arrears would stand at
slightly below EUR 0.5 billion by August 2019.
Progress on the implementation of the action plans of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue and the General Accounting
Office will be assessed in mid-2019 in the context of a follow-up audit by the HCA. The implementation of additional actions
related to streamlining of payment processes and facilitation of arrears clearance is progressing.
A provision was tabled in the Parliament postponing the phasing out of ex ante audits by the HCA until 31 July 2019 for local
entities and extra-budgetary funds (excluding the social benefits agency OPEKA).
Regarding the Treasury Single Account (TSA), the Bank of Greece successfully runs a pilot phase. About a third of the general
government entities (588) have a cash management account in the Bank of Greece, with others to follow by the end July 2019.
Other near-term steps include the creation of a new Directorate responsible for the TSA, the elaboration on the general
government entities’ 15
days liquidity buffer calculation for general government entities and assessment as well as the mandatory
payment of their wages and pensions through the cash management accounts.
65
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0075.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter - Annex
Social safety nets.
Apply to all disability
benefits the new approach for disability
determination based on both medical and
functional assessment
Financial.
Continue to implement
reforms aimed at restoring the health of
the banking system, including NPL
resolution efforts
NPL resolution schemes
PRP implementation
E-auctions
Household insolvency action plan
Harmonisation
legislation
State guarantees
of
insolvency
The new criteria to determine disability on the basis of (also) a functional assessment are still to be established. The pilot project
that should have allowed defining these criteria encountered delays and is still running. Its ex-post evaluation will only be
completed towards the end of 2019.
NPL resolution schemes under discussion have seen limited progress:
While the securitisation scheme is relatively advanced
and currently under discussions with the Commission regarding compliance with state aid rules, the proposal of shifting bad
assets along with deferred tax credits to an SPV has not progressed yet.
Household Insolvency Action Plan:
following receipt of 2018 and Q1 2019 data the action plan should be revised by end-June
2019 in the light of recent developments (particularly an increase in filings under article 9 of the Household Insolvency law
during its extension up to end-February 2019) so as to ensure the attainment of the objective to eliminate the backlog of pending
court cases by end-2021, which cannot be achieved with the current processing rate.
New Primary Residence Protection (PRP) framework:
further to the adoption of law 4605/2019 and of the required secondary
legislation, establishing a new mechanism for the protection of primary residences through the restructuring of eligible non-
performing loans, close monitoring will be required regarding the timely operationalization of the platform for the filing and
processing of restructuring requests (including its interaction with the platform for the granting of the State contribution), by end-
July 2019.
E-auctions:
Data have been provided by the HBA related to court filings by debtors for the protection of primary residences
under the Household Insolvency law and/or bid pricing revision requests in the context of forced liquidation proceedings, as well
as the causes for the high percentage of failed auctions and of repossessions by creditors); in light of the analysis of these data,
the authorities are expected to take measures (also in the context of the ongoing review of the implementation of the new CCP),
in order to define and take the necessary mitigating actions.
Harmonization of the personal insolvency framework:
The authorities committed to harmonize and improve in the coming
months in a holistic fashion the bankruptcy and insolvency regimes.; moreover, the authorities intend to provide shortly a
concrete proposal for establishing a single personal insolvency framework through either a law-drafting committee or a working
group The authorities committed to send a proposal which has not been received so far.
State guarantees:
The authorities are considering some additional actions to speed up the clearance of called guarantees. Work is
ongoing to develop a new payment process in collaboration with the banks. In the context of ensuring the full clearance of the
66
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0076.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter - Annex
called but not paid guarantees within the foreseeable future, more ambitious measures of a structural nature will be necessary.
Justice.
Complete
the
tendering
procedure for the launching of phase II
of the Unified System for the
Management of Court cases (OSDDY-
PP),
Financial.
Continue the relaxation of
capital controls in line with the published
roadmap
Cadastre.
Complete the drawing of the
remaining forest maps
This action forms part of the second phase of the OSDDY-PP project.; the draft tendering documentation should be put in public
consultation on the public procurement platform (www.promitheus.gov.gr) by end- June 2019 in view of finalization of the tender
and the launch of the tendering procedure by end-September 2019.
Capital controls have been relaxed in line with the published roadmap, although no further relaxation was recorded this year in
the limited remaining restrictions still in place.
The preparation of the forest maps is on time with some implementation risks. Fifteen contracts are proceeding according the
schedule and the sixteenth and final one that was delayed due to an appeal procedure launched by an unsuccessful bidder was
signed in May 2019. A decision of the Council of State in March 2019 states that the areas of "building concentrations" cannot be
excluded from the forest maps. The authorities have prepared draft legislation to be urgently introduced in Parliament to address
the concerns of the Council of State. Until then it is not clear if this decision will have an implication on the intermediary
commitment to complete the drawing of the remaining forest maps by mid-2019.
The original timeline (April 2019 rollout) is unachievable. A revised timeline was discussed, suggesting an October go-live, but
based on current information, it seems that rollout before 2020 will not be possible. Further monitoring and the implementation of
intermediate steps will be required.
HELPE: No binding offers submitted. TAIPED was given in early May 2019 the technical mandate to explore all options
available towards proceeding with the transaction and come up with proposals as to the best options.
Marina of Alimos: Binding offers submitted. An e-auction took place on 16 April 2019, leading to the selection of the preferred
bidder was selected on 16 April. Next steps are for Court of Audit approval (end June) and the signing of the Concession
Agreement (end July)
Energy.
Launch the Target Model for
the electricity market
Privatisation.
Complete the transactions
on HELPE (including transfer of
remaining shares to HCAP) and Marina
of Alimos
67
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0077.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter - Annex
Privatisation.
Implement the Asset
Development Plan of TAIPED on a
continuous basis
Asset Development Plan (ADP): The ADP of TAIPED should be updated and endorsed by KYSOIP. Maintaining progress
towards completion of the end-2019 commitments under the ADP requires in particular the following actions:
Egnatia
Immediate launch and completion of the construction of all remaining frontal and lateral toll stations.
Specification
by the Tunnel Licencing Authority (based on Egnatia’s submissions) of the measures that need to be
implemented in order for the tunnels to be licensed (by end of May).
Completion of the process for the appointment of Chairman, CEO and NED members of the BoD of Egnatia. Proposal by
Minister on Chairman and the parliamentary hearing process should all be concluded in due time to allow for TAIPED to
complete work stream by said deadline.
Resolution of the motor service stations contracts open issues (re. Eleftherochori, Oraiokastro, Ardanio and Sostis) by Egnatia
S.A. without delays
Clear picture on what works needs to be done for bridges to be classified as safe (mid-June). Egnatia must clearly define the
measures that must be taken as well as the cost for the bridges to be completely safe.
Egnatia to proceed to necessary actions (tender for advisor appointment) for all the preparatory work necessary for the
remaining expropriations.
DEPA
launching of the transactions for the sale of 50% + 1 share of DEPA Commercial
Regional ports of Alexandroupolis and Kavala:
Issue of the relevant Joint Ministerial Decision that would make possible the
launching of the tender. Launching of the transactions on the regional ports of Alexandroupolis and Kavala
Sale of 30% of the AIA shares:
Resolution of the issue of the 9
th
member in the Board of Directors of AIA. Signing of the
waiver agreement by mid-June 2019; Launching of the tender process for the sale of 30% of AIA by end June 2019.
EYDAP:
The concession agreement between EYDAP and the HR expires in October. There is a need for an extension of the
concession agreement the soonest possible.
68
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0078.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter - Annex
HCAP.
Implement the Strategic Plan of
HCAP on a continuous basis. Complete
the review/replacement of all SOE
boards
HCAP's Strategic Plan was approved by the General Assembly in January 2018. On the basis of the Strategic Plan, the non-listed
subsidiaries submitted updated Business Plans to HCAP. Furthermore, HCAP prepared the Business Plan of the Corporation for
the period 2019-2021 implementing the Strategic Plan and setting key performance indicators for the non-listed subsidiaries.
Review / replacement of ELTA, GAIAOSE, OASA and AEDIK (Corinth Canal) Board of Directors completed. Assessment in
other 4 SOEs has been launched. In addition to that, new Heads of the Audit Committee have been appointed for PPC, EYATH,
Central Market of Thessaloniki and Hellenic Saltworks. Appointing professional members in the BoDs in the bigger non-listed
SOEs (in particular executive members) continues to be challenging due to the low level of remuneration, which would need to
be addressed through legislative action.
Public administration.
Independent
assessment of the appointment process
for senior management, including follow
up measures
Public administration.
Complete the
3rd cycle of mobility and performance
assessments
Authorities confirmed timeline for assessment to be finalised by June 2019. Following the completion of the assessment, the
authorities confirmed intention to set up a high-level working group (incl. officials from MAR and ASEP) to review the
recommendations and proceed to adopt various measures (incl. legal amendments) by September 2019.
Mobility scheme - 3
rd
cycle:
launched in August 2018. 5,440 vacant posts (out of which 4,754 concerned transfers) were
published originating from 165 entities and attracting 5,333 applications. Until today (i) 223 transfers (out of 744 selection
decisions); and (ii) 12 secondments (out of 48 selection decisions) have been completed. Although, the time needed from
publication of a post to selection decision and then actual appointment taking place has been significantly shortened, there is a
risk that a significant part of the expected transfers (and secondments) will not be completed by the end of June 2019.
Performance assessment:
circular launching the performance assessment was issued on 12 March 2019 with a revised timeline
published on 3 May 2019: the timeline foreseen is as follows: (i) 14 March
12 April: registering of officials to be assessed by
HR departments; (ii) 15 April
13 May: officials carry out their self-assessment; (iii) 15 May
10 June: first evaluators carry out
their assessments; (iv) 12
30 June: second evaluators carry out their assessments. Authorities have confirmed that the appraisal
will be completed on time and as per the timeline set out above.
69
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0079.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter - Annex
Follow-up on issues from
enhanced surveillance report
2nd
Fiscal.
Monitor and contain fiscal risks
related to court cases, instalment
schemes and the public sector wage bill
Tax administration.
IAPR recruitment.
Progress
with
Updates to be provided as needed.
The hiring of staff to the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (IAPR) remains slow. Latest update from authorities is that
expected staff number end of 2019 will have reached close to 12,400 (compared to the specific commitment of 12,500), though
achieving
the authorities’ target would require am increase in the pace of recruitments. Actual staffing has marginally increased
during the first quarter of 2019 to 11,534 from 11,487 end-2018. Authorities confirmed that final list of successful candidates was
published in April 2019 by ASEP for 546 tax/customs officials to be appointed.
As concerns the 'complementary measures' adopted in early 2019: (i) HR reform: the IAPR to submit request to the Legal Council
of State to seek its legal opinion as concerns the supplementary wage grid for the IAPR by June and proceed to adopt secondary
legislation needed for the supplementary grading scale; (ii) 'blueprint' (2019-2022): regular monitoring of progress on various
projects, including the IAPR to establish an executive committee; and (iii) IT envelope: budget agreed between GSIS and IAPR,
but not yet secured/allocated..
Labour market.
Monitor impact of
minimum wage increase and collective
bargaining
Energy.
Completion
divestiture
of
lignite
Authorities agree on the need to assess the impact of the recent minimum wage increase and to monitor overall wage
developments. Technical work is on-going to make full use of the information on labour market trends contained in
administrative databases (EFKA, ERGANI, OPS-SEPE), with the support of technical assistance.
As per the recent Commission decision C(2019) 2748, an extension to the commitment was granted to allow for a new tender
under the same framework. This foresees binding offers received by mid-May and closure by end-June. It calls for the
appointment of another valuator to provide a fairness opinion on the plants’ values in order to assess offers. The Commission
has
stressed the expectation of a distancing from the initial valuation and the pressing need for a fairness valuation. In the wake of the
recent announcement that the government will be holding parliamentary elections before the summer, a unilateral decision
extending the process deadline to 15 July was made by PPC following consultation with the Ministry of Energy and
Environment. As such, the closure will not be made within that given deadline.
70
kom (2019) 0540 (forslag) - COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update – Greece, June 2019
2059205_0080.png
Commission Staff Working Document -
Chapter - Annex
Public Administration.
Progress with
appointment
of
Administrative
Secretaries and issues relating to the
unified wage grid.
According to the latest updates from the authorities, one actual appointment and four selections of Administrative Secretaries
have been completed out of 69 in total. According to the authorities, the two selection panels should be able to complete up to
five shortlists per month, which means that all selection decisions should be completed by end-2019. If the current selection trend
remains it is increasingly unlikely that the revised target of completing all selection decisions by end-2019 will be achieved.
Legal amendments adopted since the publication of the 2
nd
Enhanced Surveillance report risk further counteracting the unified
wage grid reform. In addition, various amendments under discussion concerning salary provisions and hiring process for specific
entities should preferably not adopted as
ad hoc
exceptions to existing provisions but following a strategic/systemic approach for
certain public entities (e.g. independent authorities). Authorities confirmed that they do not have any intention to proceed to
implement provision foreseen in the unified wage grid (Article 17) to provide supplementary remuneration on the basis of job
description and appraisal of position until all job descriptions have been completed (expected by end-2019) and a common
approach having been defined by MAR.
Privatisation:
The transaction on
Hellinikon should have been completed
by end-2018
HCAP.
The transfer of OAKA to HCAP
should have been completed by end-
2018.
The authorities should continue the strong efforts to complete all pending conditions precedent the soonest possible: (i) Award of
the casino licence in Hellinikon, (ii) Issue of the Joint Ministerial Decisions on the metropolitan park, the development zones and
the urban planning zones; (iii) Partition of the Hellinikon site between the Hellenic Republic and Lamda Development (iv)
Completion of the relocation of all users.
The transfer of OAKA will take longer to complete. Given the complexities and involvement of third parties, an adjusted
timetable for the transfer by end-2020 appears reasonable. The authorities have further developed a roadmap for specific actions
to be taken during 2019 to address the open technical issues, which appears appropriate in light of the complexity of the project.
71