EU Commission: Fiscal Policy Recommendations for Greece

From the European Commission followed a formidable shout towards Kyriakos Mitsotakis in connection with his pre-election actions, which led to a sharp imbalance in the country’s economy. In the guide EU they have their own statistics service, and they see a real picture of the state of the Greek economy, not a picture drawn in Megaro Maximo.

Greece continues to experience excessive imbalances, but its vulnerability appears to be easing, thanks to progress, according to fiscal policy advice given by the European Commission in the context of the European Semester, the EC secretariat said in a statement.

The European Commission recommends that Greece:

1. Collapse energy support measures in place by the end of 2023, using the savings to reduce the state budget deficit. If a rebound in energy prices calls for support measures, ensure they are designed to protect vulnerable households and firms, are affordable to the budget, and maintain incentives for energy conservation.

Ensure prudent fiscal policyin particular by limiting the nominal growth of publicly financed net primary spending in 2024 to no more than 2.6%.

Retain nationally funded public investment and ensure the efficient use of RDF grants and other EU funds, in particular to stimulate the green and digital transition.

Beyond 2024, continue to pursue a medium-term fiscal strategy of gradual and sustainable consolidation, coupled with investments and reforms that promote higher sustainable growth, to achieve a prudent medium-term fiscal stance.

Building on reforms under the recovery and resilience plan, increase the investment attractiveness of the tax system by introducing a system of advance tax rulings, increase the tax base, including by reviewing the current tax structure for the self-employed, and improve tax compliance by expanding the use of electronic payments .

Maintain and increase the autonomy of the tax administration body by expanding its powers to develop and manage information systems and human resources. To increase the efficiency of public administration by ensuring the involvement of the necessary specialists and maintaining compliance with a single tariff scale.

Continue work to reduce the volume of non-performing loans and further improve the functioning of the secondary market for non-performing loans.

2. Keep momentum in the progressive implementation of the recovery and resilience plan, and quickly complete the work on the chapter of REPowerEU in order to quickly start its implementation. Ensure continued sufficient administrative capacity given the scale of the plan. Continue accelerated implementation of cohesion policy programs in close complementarity and synergy with the recovery and resilience plan.

3. To ensure adequate and equitable access to healthcare complete the deployment of the primary health care system and adopt stronger incentives to attract enough family doctors to achieve full population coverage and population registration.

Complete the reform of the cadastre by completing the cadastral mapping, establishing and operating the Hellenic Cadastral Agency.

4. Reduce dependence on fossil fuels and accelerate the diversification of energy supply routes. Further expand renewable energy deployment by completing and enforcing new legal frameworks for the licensing process and for offshore wind farms, increasing grid and storage capacity, promoting decentralized renewable energy production, and enacting legal frameworks for renewable hydrogen and biomethane production. Accelerate the implementation of energy efficiency measures, including targeted measures for energy insecure households and the installation of smart meters, as well as policy efforts to secure and acquire the skills needed for the green transition. Support the decarbonization of the transport sector, in particular by promoting electric vehicles.

To freezefor at least the next two years, any discussion of raising the minimum wage within three years of the commission’s spring report, as well as the medium-term program presented by the government shortly before the dissolution of parliament.

It seems that the European Commission is already 100% confident in the victory of the New Democracy in the 2nd round of elections. The triumph of Kyriakos Mitsotakis in the May 21 elections gives a free hand to the economic headquarters of the future government to move forward regardless of political costs. The commission’s report freezes wages until at least 2025, and the Mitsotakis government’s report puts it off even longer, until the end of 2027.

Forget Mitsotakis’ promises of further increases in minimum wages, as well as previous social policy measures like Market Pass, Fuel Pass and others. Ahead, according to the European Commission, Mitsotakis has 4 years of almost unlimited power and you can no longer think about the people.

It’s time to pay back…

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