COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance Report - Greece, February 2021 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update - Greece, February 2021
Date: 2021-02-24
Institutions: Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission
Subjects: Euro Group (euro area), Greece, economic recovery, gross domestic product, macroeconomics, multilateral surveillance, public debt, stability programme, structural adjustment, sustainable development

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 24.2.2021  SWD(2021) 43 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance Report - Greece, February 2021 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update - Greece, February 2021  {COM(2021) 97 final}  
 
 
ABBREVIATIONS 

AIA: Athens International Airport 
ANFA: Agreement on Net Financial Assets 
ASEP: Supreme Council for Civil Personnel Selection 
CRR: Capital Requirement Regulation 
DEPA: Public Gas Corporation  
DRU: Dispute Resolution Unit 
ECB: European Central Bank 
EFKA: Single Social Security Fund  
EFSF: European Financial Stability Facility 
EIB: European Investment Bank 
EKAPY: National Central Authority of Health Procurements  
ENFIA: Unified Property Tax  
EOPYY: National Organisation for the Provision of Healthcare Services 
ERGANI: Greek Database for Unemployment Registration  
ERGOSE: Subsidiary company of OSE to implement railways infrastructure projects 
ESI: Economic Sentiment Indicator 
ESM: European Stability Mechanism 
ESOEL: National Coordinating Body for Audit and Accountability  
ETAD: Public Properties Company  
ETEAEP: Supplementary Pension Fund  
EYATH: Thessaloniki Water Supply and Sewerage Company  
EYDAP: Athens Water Supply and Sewerage Company  
FEK: Government gazette  
GDP: Gross Domestic Product 
GPS: Global Positioning System 
GRECO: Group of States against Corruption 
HCAP: Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participations 
HELEXPO:  National  institution  for  the  organisation  of  exhibitions,  congresses  and  cultural 
events  
HFSF: Hellenic Financial Stability Fund  
HRADF/TAIPED: Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund  
HRMS: Human resources management system 
IAPR: Independent Authority for Public Revenue 
ICT: Information and Communication Technologies 
IEK: Public professional schools  
IKE: Greek private company  
IMF: International Monetary Fund 
JASPERS: Assistance to Support Projects in European Regions  
KEK: Vocational training centres  
KEPA: Disability assessment centres  
KOMYs: Newly and swiftly deployed medical mobile units  
KPI: Key performance indicator 
KTEL: Joint-venture of Regional Transport 
LCR: liquidity coverage ratio 
LEPETE: Supplementary Pension Fund of the National Bank of Greece 
MFIs: Monetary financial institutions 
NFCs: Non financial corporations 

1 

 
NOME: Nouvelle organisation du marché de l’electricité (New organisation of the electricity 
market) 
NPEs: Non-performing exposures 
OAED: Public employment service  
OASTH: Urban Transport of Thessaloniki 
OGA: Agricultural Insurance Organisation (former farmers’ fund) 
OMED: Mediation and arbitration board  
OSDDY: Integrated Management System for Judicial Cases  
OSE: Organisation of railways of Greece 
PMI: Purchasing Managers Index 
SEPE: Labour inspections directorate  
SMP: Securities Markets Programme 
SURE: Support to Mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency 
SYNERGASIA: Temporary short-time work scheme  
TEPIX II: Envelope for co-financing loans to small and medium-sized enterprises  
TLTRO III: Eurosystem targeted longer-term refinancing operations  
TOMYs: primary health care units 
VAT: Value added tax 

2 

 
 
 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

This  report  is  prepared  as  an  enclosed  document  to  the  Commission's  assessment  pursuant 
Article 3(5) of Regulation (EU) 472/2013 published as Communication from the Commission 
–  Enhanced  Surveillance  –  Greece,  February  2021.  It  was  prepared  in  the  Directorate 
General  Economic  and  Financial  Affairs,  under  the  direction  of  Maarten  Verwey,  Director 
General,  Declan  Costello, Deputy Director  General,  and the coordination of  Julia Lendvai, 
Head of Unit and Milan Lisicky, Deputy Head of Unit. 

Contributors: 

Chris  Allen,  Giuseppe  Carone,  Christos  Daoulas,  Fotini  Dionyssopoulou,  Matteo  Duiella, 
Dolores Gloria Duran Bono, Sotirios Giannoulis, Christos Gofas, Andras Hudecz, Alexander 
Ioannidis,  Eloïse  Lecouturier,  Vasileios  Maroulis,  Benedetta  Martinelli,  Vasilis  Nikitas, 
Zoltan  Petrov,  Eleni  Polemidiotou,  Marie-Luise  Rud,  Manos  Sfakianakis,  Alexandros 
Tavoutsoglou,  Andreas  Trokkos,  Vasiliki  Vasilopoulou,  Irene  Vlachaki,  Veli  Laine,  Rainer 
Wichern and Alkistis Zavakou.  

The European Central Bank staff participated in the drafting of this report in accordance with 
the  European  Central  Bank’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 contributed to the preparation of 
this report in the context of the European Stability Mechanism's Early Warning System and in 
accordance with the Memorandum of  Understanding  of  27 April 2018 on working relations 
between  the  European  Commission  and  the  European  Stability  Mechanism.  International 
Monetary  Fund  staff  participated  in  the  context  of  its  Post-Programme  Monitoring 
framework. 

Comments on the report would be gratefully received and should be sent by post or e-mail to: 

Julia Lendvai 

European Commission 

Unit ECFIN-F-2 

CHAR 14/103 

B-1049 Brussels 

e-mail: ECFIN-GREECE-REQUESTS@ec.europa.eu 

3 

 
 
 
 
STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

Progress with the implementation of due specific commitments and relevant continuous commitments (*) given to the Eurogroup 
(Annex to the Eurogroup statement, 22 June 2018) 

Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

(*)  Fiscal.  Achieve  a  primary  surplus  of  3.5%  of  GDP  over  the 
medium-term. 

Public  financial  management.  Complete  the  chart  of  accounts  for 
the  central  administration  by  implementing  the  fund  and  functional 
classifications in the 2022 State budget by mid-2021. It is noted that 
the implementation of the fund classification is subject to a provision 
of technical assistance. 

The  2021  budget,  voted  in  early-December  2021,  expects  the  deficit 
monitored  under  enhanced  surveillance  to  reach  3.9%  of  GDP  in 
2021.  This  compares  with  a  deficit  forecast  of  3.4%  of  GDP  in  the 
Commission 2020 autumn  forecast.  The fiscal  policy setting planned for 
2021  takes  into  account  the  continued  application  of  the  general  escape 
clause  in  2021.  A  full  update  of  the  fiscal  forecast  will  be  prepared  in 
spring in the context of the assessment of the 2021 Stability Programme. 

The functional classification is expected to be gradually implemented 
as  of  October 2021.  It  was  agreed  that  a  simplified  version  of  the 
functional  classification  (1st  level)  would  be  finalised  by  October 2021 
and  released  in  November 2021,  in  time  for  the  2022 budget.  The 
necessary  IT  specifications  for  both  the  investment  and  non-investment 
budgets  will  be  completed  by  April.  The  full  detail  will  be  prepared  in 
time for the 2023 budget. The European institutions invited the authorities 
to  prepare  a  road  map  for  its  completion,  including  in  the  public 
investment  budget,  by  April 2021 and aim for a  delivery by  April 2022. 
The  functional  classification  will  be  implemented  in  parallel  with  the 
performance budgeting framework.  

Implementation  of  the  Chart  of  Accounts  in  the  public  investment 
budget  has  seen  a  positive  momentum.  This  is  key  for  a  successful 
completion  of  the  accounting  reform.  The  interoperability  of  the  IT 

4 

 
 
Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

payment  system  of  the  public  investment  budget  with  the  central  IT 
system is progressing. It is benefiting from technical support provided by 
the European Commission and is expected to be completed in the course 
of 2021. It was agreed that the administrative and economic classification 
will  start  to  be  applied  on  (realised)  budget  transactions  before 
the  administrative 
end-April 2021,  while 
classification and a simplified version of the economic classification will 
be applied only in the 2022 budget.  

for  planning  purposes, 

to 

jeopardise 

The  tender  for  the  upgraded  central  IT  payment  system,  which  will 
significantly contribute to the completion of the accounting reform, is 
delayed. The authorities plan to launch the tender in March 2021 so that 
the  project  can  start  by  the  end  of  2021.  However,  these  delays  are  not 
expected 
the  above-mentioned 
classifications  because  of  the  existence  of  a  parallel  IT  system,  which 
could  offer  a  temporary  solution  until  the  new  advanced  system  is 
functional. Following the implementation of the accounting reform in the 
central  administration,  a  plan  with  a  timeline  will  be  drafted  by 
end-February 2021 for the rollout of the Chart of Accounts in the general 
government entities. 

the  application  of 

(*) Arrears.  

The  authorities  will  implement  the  arrears  clearance  plan  and  avoid 
the accumulation of new arrears. 

Complete  the  implementation  of  reforms  identified  by  the  Hellenic 
Court of Auditors. 

The  stock  of  arrears  has  decreased  since  September 2020  but  the 
October 2019 clearance plan will need to be updated as the December 
target  has  not  been  met.  In  December 2020,  the  stock  of  arrears  was 
€979  million,  more  than  €200  million  below  the  level  reported  in  the 
previous report. However, the risks noted in the 8th enhanced surveillance 
report in relation to the December zero target for the stock of non-pension 
arrears  have  materialised,  partly  due  to  the  extraordinary  circumstances 
the  pandemic.  The  stock  of  non-pension  arrears  was 
posed  by 

5 

 
 
Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

including 

the  reinforcement  of 

€485 million  in  December.  The  authorities  committed  to  update  their 
clearance  plan  for  non-pension  arrears  by  March 2021  with  a  view  to 
clearing  them  by  June  2021,  in  consultation  with  the  European 
institutions.  The  updated  action  plan  will  include  monthly  targets  and 
additional  measures, 
the  Steering 
Committee  with  members  from  entities,  which  show  a  high  stock  of 
arrears and are responsible for the implementation a large number of the 
remaining  recommendations  of  the  Hellenic  Court  of  Auditors  (see 
below).  Clearing  the  backlog  of  unprocessed  pension  claims  has  also 
suffered 
from  coronavirus-related  slippages.  Their  stock,  about 
€500 million, remained broadly stable compared with the previous report. 
The  authorities  have  amended  their  November  2020  clearance  plan  but 
reiterated  their  commitment  to  fully  clear  the  pension-arrears  by 
end-2021. 

With  a  view  to  preventing  the  creation  of  new  arrears,  a  working 
group has been established in December with the task of simplifying 
the  legislative  framework  for  the  conduct  of  fiscal  procedures.  Its 
establishment  has  been  delayed  by  two  months,  compared  to  the  initial 
date  of  October 2020.  The  working  group  is  tasked  with  reforming, 
updating, simplifying and eventually codifying the legislative framework 
governing  the  fiscal  management  of  the  central  administration.  It  is 
expected to prepare an interim report by end-March 2021, including legal 
proposals  for  the  simplification  of  the  fiscal  procedures  and  the 
elimination  of  bottlenecks,  while  abiding  to  the  principles  that  ensure 
fiscal discipline. These proposals will eventually help streamlining budget 
execution as well as payment and accounting processes.  

The  implementation  of  the  recommendations  made  by  the  Hellenic 

6 

 
 
Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

Court of Auditors, a mid-2021 specific commitment and a crucial step 
towards  addressing  the  creation  of  new  arrears,  is  ongoing.  The 
implementation of the recommendations shows overall good results with 
many recommendations related to modifications of the IT systems and the 
improvement  of  the  human  resource  management  already  completed.  A 
the  authorities  by 
detailed  progress  report  will  be  provided  by 
end-April 2021,  including  for  entities  that  do  not  participate  in  the 
Steering Committee.  

A new law setting out the conceptual framework for internal control 
is  expected  to  be  adopted  by  March  2021,  somewhat  later  than 
initially expected. Adoption of the law was a horizontal recommendation 
by  the  Hellenic  Court  of  Auditors  and  it  is  also  key  for  the  sound 
management  of  the  projects  to  be  funded  through  the  Recovery  and 
Resilience  Facility.  The  objective  of  this  law  is  to  develop  a  structured 
internal  control  system,  in  order  to  ensure  the  efficient  operation  of  all 
public  entities,  the  reliability  of  their  reporting  and  their  overall 
compliance  with  the  legislative  framework  and  policies.  Related  to  this, 
the authorities are preparing to commence, from end-April, the evaluation 
of  the  public  financial  management  component  of  the  internal  control 
framework across the public administration, the success of which depends 
on  the  strong  commitment  and  involvement  of  all  relevant  players.  This 
project  also  includes  the  evaluation  of  internal  control’s  effectiveness. 
The Hellenic Court of Auditors plans to audit the internal control systems 
of a large number of entities in 2021, which is expected to further support 
the reform. 

The  supplementary  wage  grid  for  the  Independent  Authority  of 
Public  Revenue  has  been  adopted.  The  European  institutions 

7 

Tax administration. 

 
 
Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

Reach  the  agreed  permanent  staffing  positions  at  the  Independent 
Authority  of  Public  Revenue  of  12 500  by  end-2019  and  13 322  by 
mid-2021. 

Make the end-to-end IT collection systems fully operational by mid-
2021. 

Tax policy. Greece will undertake a nationwide valuation exercise of 
property tax value based on market  values and  will update property 
tax  values  for  ENFIA  and  other  taxes  fully  in  line  with  market 
values. 

encouraged  the  authorities  to  have  the  overall  human  resources 
reform in place by April 2021. Once the new framework is in place, it is 
expected to greatly facilitate the Independent Authority’s efforts to attract 
new staff and maintain its existing staff, thus helping it to catch up with 
its  staffing  targets.  The  number  of  staff  was  11 848  at  the  end  of  2020, 
which is slightly below the third quarter outturn of 11 947, partly due to 
higher-than-expected retirements at the end of the year. 

The  end-to-end  IT  collection  system,  which  benefits  from  Union 
funding,  faces  delays  and  is  expected  to  be  completed  by  the  end  of 
2021.  According  to  the  initial  timeline,  the  project  would  have  been 
completed  by  the  contractor  by  the  end  of  2020,  which  would  have 
allowed its full implementation by mid-2021. However, due to contractual 
issues  delaying  the  launch  of  the  project  and  some  more  recent  delays 
incurred due to the pandemic, the deadline for the delivery of the project 
by the contractor has been extended until end-2021. Once operational  in 
2022,  it  is  expected  that  it  will  enable  tracking  tax  obligations  for  each 
physical person or entity in a more integrated manner. 

Progress  has  been  made  in  the  ENFIA  valuation  commitment  with 
the  completion  of  the  first  round  of  nationwide  property  valuations. 
The setting of the new property tax zonal values expected by March will 
substantially  enlarge  the  property  tax  base.  The  authorities  then  plan  to 
complete  the  design  of  a  revenue-neutral  reform  to  the  ENFIA  single 
property tax by end-April. These will be important for the 10th review and 
will allow the completion of the Eurogroup commitment with the annual 
ENFIA tax assessment in August 2021. 

(*) Health care. The authorities will complete the full offsetting and  The clawback collection is progressing with delays. The legislation to 

8 

 
 
Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

collection  of  the  clawback  by  June  every  year  for  the  previous 
calendar year. 

Health  care.  Greece  will  ensure  the  rollout  of  the  primary  health 
care  system,  in  particular  by  opening  all  240  primary  health  care 
units. 

Health  care.  Achieve  a  share  of  centralised  procurement  in  total 
hospital expenditure of 30%. 

9 

proceed  with  the  collection  of  backlogs  is  now  mostly  in  place.  The 
authorities agreed, by April, to finalise the collection of the clawbacks up 
to the first semester of 2020, while providing materials with more detailed 
information  by  semester  on  clawback  collection,  and  to  finalise  the 
procedure for the start  of the collection of the clawbacks imputed to  the 
second  semester  of  2020.  In  addition,  the  authorities  will  adopt  the 
ministerial decision setting the ceilings for providers for 2021.  

Work  on  the  primary  health  care  reform  was  suspended  due  to  the 
immediate  need  to  focus  resources  on  the  organisation  of  the 
vaccination campaign. It was agreed to prepare an advanced draft of the 
legislation by end-April 2021. While efforts on the urgent need to set up 
and carry out the vaccination campaign are absorbing almost full capacity, 
the authorities are working on a new primary care model, having recently 
implemented  a  ‘pop-up’  system  to  encourage  patient  registration. 
Building on this progress, the authorities agreed to submit a revised draft 
of  the  primary  health  care  legislation  by  the  time  of  the  next  report. 
Successful implementation of a comprehensive network of primary health 
care  centres  also  relies  on  adequate  staffing,  and  the  authorities  are 
working on a revision of family doctors remuneration package. The new 
organisational  model  of  health  centres  and  further  steps  towards  the 
interoperability of the  e-medical  record are  close to  completion and will 
be finalised by the next review. 

Although  slowed  down  by  the  priority  shift  due  to  the  pandemic, 
work on centralised procurement in ongoing.  The re-activation of the 
Price  Observatory  and  legislation  on  the  National  Centralised  Health 
Procurement Authority (EKAPY) are key steps to achieve the 30% target 
by the first quarter of 2021 and significant progress has been made in this 

 
 
Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

direction.  It  was  agreed  that  the  Price  Observatory,  already  operational, 
will be fully reactivated and the legislative framework for the Authority, 
which is already at an advanced stage and will also include some elements 
of  the  e-health  framework,  will  be  adopted.  In  parallel,  based  on  the 
positive results achieved so far, the authorities plan to meet the 30% target 
of  centralised  procurement  (in  terms  of  tenders  launched  by  the  time  of 
the  next  review),  building  on  the  joint  action  of  the  Procurement 
Authority,  regional  authorities  and  the  Pharmaceutical  Research  and 
Technology Company (IFET). 

The  authorities  are  working  towards  the  establishment  of  the  third 
pillar.  Notwithstanding some delays in  several  of the  required steps due 
to disruptions caused by the pandemic, the authorities remain committed 
to starting nationwide rollout of the third pillar in April 2021, as per the 
agreed  timeline.  Notably,  work  is  currently  underway  for  updating  the 
pool  of  eligible  participants  and  the  contact  person’s  network  in  social 
services, and for adjusting business processes of the implementing bodies. 
The  completion  of  the  third  and  last  pillar  of  the  Guaranteed  Minimum 
Income  scheme  will  allow  for  a  systematic  provision  of  labour  market 
reintegration  services  to  the  beneficiaries  of  the  guaranteed  minimum 
income. 

The  main  secondary  legislation  setting  public  service  compensation 
levels for transport operators has been adopted and the first payments 
to  transport  operators  for  2020  have  been  carried  out.  The  last  piece  of 
secondary  legislation  and  some  technical  legal  amendments  to  allow 
payments  to  smaller  operators  are  underway  for  completion  by  March 
2021.  

Social welfare. Complete the rollout of all three pillars of the Social 
Solidarity  Income  scheme  (subsequently  renamed  Guaranteed 
Minimum Income scheme). 

Social  welfare.  Review  the  system  of  subsidies  for  local  public 
transport. 

10 

 
 
Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

Social welfare. Apply to all disability benefits the new approach for 
disability  determination  based  on  both  medical  and  functional 
assessment. 

Social  welfare.  Complete  the  set-up  of  the  single  pension  fund 
EFKA. 

Due  to  delays  due  to  the  pandemic,  the  pilot  project  for  the  new 
functionality-based  disability  assessment  process  has  been  delayed 
from  March  2021  to  November  2021.  A  detailed  policy  paper  was 
finalised  in  December  2020,  outlining  the  set  up  for  the  new  disability 
assessment process in line with EU best practices. The delayed launch of 
the  pilot  project  is  due  particularly  to  the  severe  backlog  that  has 
developed  in  disability  assessments  and  current  non-availability  of  the 
required  medical  staff.  The  authorities  plan 
initial 
preparations  by  March  2021  including  drafting  the  necessary  legal 
provisions, roadmaps, questionnaires, forms and IT specifications. 

to  complete 

Despite  difficulties  created  by  the  pandemic,  the  authorities  are 
finalising  the  organisational  and  institutional  setup  of  the  Single 
Social  Security  Fund  (e-EFKA).  The  authorities  made  progress  by 
finalising the merging of the former Agricultural  Insurance Organisation 
(OGA)  with  the  former  Social  Insurance  Institute  (IKA)  processes,  the 
next  step  being  the  Employment  Agency  (OAED).  They  recently 
launched  staff  trainings  to  speed-up  the  process  of  pension  awards  and 
removed  IT  barriers  to  the  creation  of  the  remaining  directories. 
Nonetheless, further progress needs to be made for the full completion of 
the  organisational  setup  of  e-EFKA,  which  includes  the  definition  of  a 
timeline for the implementation of the 120 planned directories. 

(*)  Financial  stability.  Greece  will  continue  to  implement  reforms 
aimed  at  restoring  the  health  of  the  banking  system,  including  non-
performing  loans  resolution  efforts  by  ensuring  the  continued 
effectiveness  of  the  relevant  legal  framework  (i.e.  household  and 
corporate  insolvency,  out-of-court  workout,  non-performing  loans 

The  entry  into  force  of  the  new  Insolvency  Code  was  postponed  to 
minimize  legal  risks  connected  with  delays  in  IT  infrastructure  and 
the issuance of secondary legislation. The authorities are preparing, as a 
matter of priority in view of the next report, the secondary legislation and 
the necessary infrastructure to allow its full implementation in two steps, 

11 

 
 
Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

sales, e-auctions) and taking all necessary actions to this effect.  

on 1 March 2021 and 1 June 2021. 

The filing of requests for the replacement of distant hearing dates for 
household  insolvency  cases  by  ones  in  the  nearer  future  has  been 
progressing,  in  line  with  the  recently  adopted  provisions.  The 
authorities adopted in  the fourth  quarter of 2020 legislative amendments 
requiring debtors to re-file their applications through an online platform. 
Despite the use of this new tool, meeting the target of full clearance of the 
backlog by the end of 2021 is subject to risks and needs to be monitored 
closely.  The  authorities  granted  a  sixteen  day  extension  of  the  first  in  a 
series of deadlines (there are different deadlines according to the grouping 
of cases on the basis of seniority), which expired on 31 January 2021, so 
as to enable lawyers to redress mistakes due to the lack of familiarity with 
the functioning of the e-platform. However, the clearance of the backlog 
has  been hampered due  to  postponements of hearings occasioned by the 
closure of courts as part of containment measures since November 2020. 
The  authorities  will  provide  monthly  updates  on  the  progress  of 
procedural  steps,  adding  items  as  they  become  available  (requests  filed 
and  validated,  notifications  made,  memoranda  and  rejoinders  filed, 
appointments of judges and entries of cases in dockets, hearings held and 
decisions issued), detailed per court throughout Greece.  

The  impact  of  the  first  set  of  measures  aimed  at  enhancing  the 
functionality  and  user-friendliness  of  the  e-auctions  platform  has 
been  muted  as  a  result  of  a  horizontal  suspension  of  enforcement 
proceedings, including e-auctions during the second tightening of the 
containment  measures.  A  protracted  generalised  freezing  of  all 
enforcement  steps,  including  preparatory  ones,  may  have  an  adverse 
effect on Greek banks’ and servicers’ efforts to accelerate non-performing 

12 

 
 
Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

loans reduction. 

Regarding  the  Code  of  Civil  Procedure  review,  the  authorities  are 
working on the finalisation of the draft law amendments expected to 
be submitted to the Ministry of Justice by end-February 2021. These 
will include further improvements to the e-auction framework. The code 
is  scheduled  for  adoption  by  June  2021  to  enable  its  entry  into  force 
before the beginning of the new judicial year, in September 2021. 

The  clearance  of  the  considerable  backlog  of called  state  guarantees 
has fallen further behind the plan in the fourth quarter of 2020. This 
was partly due to administrative delays in the recruitment process of new 
personnel  amidst  the  second  tightening  of  containment  measures. 
However, its pace is expected to accelerate in 2021. 

Following  a  limited  amendment  of  the  primary  law  on  deferred  tax 
credits,  the  authorities  are  preparing  the  necessary  secondary 
legislation  to  ensure  full  operationalisation  of  the  framework  in  all 
cases, including resolution.  

The  authorities  noted  that  all  available  complementary  systemic 
solutions  for  the  reduction  of  non-performing  loans  are  being 
assessed based on their costs and benefits. 

The  procedure  for  updating  the  statutory  minimum  wage,  put  on 
hold  following  the  outbreak  of  the  pandemic,  has  been  further 
postponed and is set to resume in March 2021. The statutory minimum 
wage  should  in  principle  be  revised  annually.  Due  to  the  exceptional 
circumstances  caused  by  the  pandemic,  the  consultation  process  for 

13 

(*) Labour markets, product markets and competitiveness.  

 
 
Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

Investment  licensing.  Complete  the  investment  licensing  reform, 
and to this end fully deploy the relevant ICT. 

Investment licensing. Greece will finalise inspection legislation. 

updating  the  minimum  that  was  launched  in  February  2020  had  been 
suspended  (initially  for  a  period  of  6  months,  subsequently  extended 
twice,  for  additional  3  months).  The  new  level  of  the  minimum  wage  is 
now expected to be determined by end-July 2021. 

The  authorities  intend to  award  the  contract  for  the  integrated  ICT 
system by mid-March, which is a critical element of the reform. This 
follows  from  a  recent  decision  by  the  administrative  court  to  reject  the 
request for the suspension of the tender, however the risk of further legal 
complications  in  the  tendering  process  remains.  In  the  meantime,  the 
authorities continue to work with the World Bank on the mapping and gap 
analysis  of  IT  systems  currently  in  place  in  the  public  sector,  to  be 
adapted and interfaced with the new system. 

Completing the reform in the three priority areas by end April is still 
in  reach  but  will  require  concerted  effort  and  tight  coordination  of 
the high number of ministries involved. The outstanding elements in the 
areas of food safety, environmental protection and product safety concern 
the  development  of  the  enforcement  management  model  and  the  review 
and amendment of sanctions legislation. The authorities recently adopted 
legislation to define the roles and responsibilities of inspecting authorities 
for  environmental  protection,  whilst  the  respective  provisions  on  food 
safety are still outstanding. Effective operationalisation of the framework 
is conditional to the swift and uniform deployment of the new tools by all 
relevant actors. 

Investment  licensing.  Greece  will  finalise  the  simplification  of 
investment licensing procedures in the agreed remaining sectors. 

Work  progresses  substantially  slower  than  expected,  but  the 
authorities  pledged  to  accelerate  work  whilst  at  the  same  time 
ensuring high quality. The reform on the primary production sector was 

14 

 
 
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State of play and next steps 

completed,  after  some  delay,  with  the  recent  adoption  of  secondary 
legislation.  The  bill  to  simplify  most  of  the  remaining  activities,  due  by 
end-November  2020,  was  only  submitted  for  public  consultation  in 
January and its adoption is now due by end-February. The delay will have 
a  knock-on  effect  on  the  adoption  of  all  necessary  secondary  legislation 
initially  agreed  to  be  completed  by  end-April  2021,  which  is  needed  to 
fully reform these activities. The new agreed timeline foresees adoption of 
the secondary legislation in three batches (14 joint ministerial decisions in 
April, 15 in June and the remaining ones in early September). Further, the 
authorities are slightly behind schedule in drafting primary legislation to 
simplify  the  last  remaining  activities,  but  still  aim  to  adopt  this  by 
end-April,  and  also  adopt  all  related  secondary  legislation  by  early 
September.  As  a  consequence,  the  agreed  timeline  for  fully  completing 
the commitment by mid-2021 will be extended to early September. 

The timeline for the completion of cadastral mapping is being further 
delayed, while there is mixed progress on the cadastral agency. As of 
today,  34%  of  the  cadastral  mapping  has  been  completed  and  is  in 
operation. The milestone of 45% will be reached by mid-2022, and 100% 
by  December  2024.  There  are  mainly  two  reasons  for  this  delay.  One  is 
the slow declarations by citizens and the consequent extensions that were 
given,  and  the  second  is  related  to  the  coronavirus  pandemic,  which 
postponed  many  activities.  Regarding  the  forest  maps,  the  Ministry  of 
Environment has issued a circular on 12 January 2021 with the uploading 
of  the  forest  maps  in  the  remaining  59  regions,  completing  thus  the 
uploading of the maps for the entire country by end-February 2021. 

Regarding  the  full  operation  of  the  Cadastral  Agency,  there  is 
substantial  progress  in  some  areas  while  there  are  delays  in  others. 

Cadastre.  Greece  will  fully  establish  the  cadastral  agency  and 
complete  45%  of  cadastral  mapping  by  end  2021,  with  a  view  to 
ratifying  the  complete  cadastral  mapping  and  forest  maps  by  mid-
2022. 

15 

 
 
Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

The  management  team  has  been  appointed  and  the  preparation  of  the 
corporate  strategy  has  progressed.  On  the  other  hand,  the  recruitment  of 
the migration team is still pending – the European institutions encouraged 
the  authorities  to  adopt  the  relevant  secondary  legislation  speedily.  The 
integration  of  mortgage  offices  continues  at  the  current  pace  of  two 
offices  per  month  and  will  be  accelerated  once  the  engagement  of  the 
migration team is completed. 

The Hellenic Cadastre has updated the Road Map for the completion 
of the cadastre with new milestones and revised targets. The European 
institutions encouraged the authorities to substantially progress regarding 
the forest maps and cadastre in time for the next report. The responsibility 
for  overseeing  the  Hellenic  Cadastre  has  been  moved  to  the  Ministry  of 
Digital Governance. 

The Commission is consulting the market on commitments proposed 
by the authorities, an important step towards adopting  the antitrust 
remedy, which was an end-2020 commitment. The market consultation 
is  expected  to  be  finalised  by  end  of  February  and  should  allow  for  the 
final remedy to be presented thereafter. 

Energy.  With  a  view  to  completing  reforms  in  the  energy  sector, 
implement the measures agreed as part of the joint assessment on the 
NOME auction system. 

(*)  HCAP.  The  Strategic  Plan  of  HCAP  will  be  implemented  on  a 
continuous basis. 

Work  progressed  well  with  regard  to  the  implementation  of  the 
Corporation’s strategic plan. Notably:  

(i) the authorities have engaged thoroughly with the European institutions 
as  part  of  drafting  the  updated  Ministerial  Guidance,  which  sets  out 
updates for the government’s general vision for the Corporation over the 
medium term and their expectations for the financial performance of the 
Corporation’s portfolio of assets. The Guidance has been finalised at the 

16 

 
 
Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

end of January. Following its issuance, the strategic plan will be updated.  

(ii) The Corporation and the state-owned enterprises have carried out the 
next phase of the implementation of the Coordination Mechanism, namely 
the  completion  of  Statements  of  Commitments  for  state-owned 
the  state-owned  enterprises’  financial, 
enterprises,  which  set  out 
operational  and  other  objectives  for  2020-2022.  These  will  need  to  be 
updated  when  there  will  be  greater  clarity  on  the  impact  of  the  ongoing 
pandemic. In addition, the final phase of the initial implementation of the 
Coordination Mechanism, which will be the preparation of a performance 
contract  setting  out  special  public  service  obligations  for  the  Athens 
Urban  Transport  Organisation  (OASA),  has  been 
launched  with 
discussions  between  the  authorities,  the  Corporation  and  the  Athens 
Urban Transport Organisation in early February.  

(iii)  Further,  the  authorities  intend  to  proceed  with  work  on  identifying 
any  legal  impediments  to  the  commercial  operation  of  state-owned 
enterprises. A swift completion of this exercise in collaboration with the 
Corporation  would  usefully  identify  improvement  areas  and  enable  the 
next steps to be taken. 

The  review  of  the  boards  of  the  state-owned  enterprises  has  been 
completed,  with  the  conclusion  of  the  board  review  of  the  Hellenic 
Exhibition  Organisation  (HELEXPO),  in  December  2020.  Further,  a 
new  chief  executive  officer  was  selected  in  the  Greek  Saltworks  in 
December and was appointed in January. 

HCAP. Complete the review/replacement of all SOE boards. 

HCAP.  Complete  the  transfer  of  the  Olympic  Athletic  Centre  The  transfer  of  the  Olympic  Athletic  Centre  is  seeing  progress  with 
the  submission  by  the  technical  advisor  of  all  pending  required 

17 

 
 
Commitment 

(OAKA) to HCAP. 

State of play and next steps 

documents  for  the  open  tender  process  for  the  design  contract. 
Further,  renovation  and  maintenance  works  in  various  parts  of  the 
premises  have  been  completed  or  are  underway  to  enable  the  safe 
utilisation of the facilities, whereas the elaboration of a master plan for the 
development  and  commercial  exploitation  of 
is  under 
consideration by the authorities. 

the  asset 

HCAP.  Transfer  the  eligible  real  estate  assets  included  in  the  2018 
package to the Public Real Estate Company, reflecting the May 2020 
ruling of the Council of State. 

The evaluation and screening process is at a very advanced stage and 
the  authorities  are  planning  to  complete  the  full  screening  by  end-
April. 

Privatisation. The Asset Development Plan will be implemented on 
a continuous basis.  

With  a  view  to  swiftly  attracting  investment  to  support  a  sustained 
economic  recovery,  complete 
transactions  on  Hellinikon, 
the 
HELPE,  marina  of  Alimos,  Egnatia,  DEPA  commercial,  regional 
ports  of  Alexandroupolis  and  Kavala,  AIA  shares,  EYDAP  and 
EYATH. 

By  mid-2021,  complete  the  transactions  on  the  regional  ports 
Igoumenitsa  and  Kerkyra,  PPC,  DEPA  infrastructure  and  Kavala 
underground storage. 

The Government Pending Actions list was updated in January 2021. 
Progress  with  specific  transactions  since  the  last  report  has  been  as 
follows: 

Hellinikon:  Progress  on  the  pending  prerequisites  for  the  financial 
closing of the transaction continued over the past three months. Following 
the  selection  of  the  provisional  preferred  bidder  for  the  award  of  the 
casino licence by the Hellenic Gaming Commission on 13 October 2020, 
the  review  procedure  on  supporting  documents  by  the  Hellenic  Gaming 
Commission was completed on 12 February, whereas the Court of Audit 
approval  is  expected  soon  thereafter.  Further,  the  partition  of  the 
Hellinikon  site  agreed  in  February  2020  is  expected  to  be  finalised  in  a 
binding  legal  document  by  end-February  2021.  Its  ratification  by  the 
Parliament  is  expected  in  March  2021.  However,  pending  are  still  the 
decisions of the Council of State on a number of legal cases. The financial 
closing of the transaction is expected in the coming months. 

Marina of Alimos: The transaction was  faced with significant  technical 

18 

 
 
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State of play and next steps 

issues,  which  were  successfully  resolved  and  the  concession  was 
financially closed on 31 December. 

Egnatia:  Progress  was  made  over  the  past  two  months  towards  the 
conclusion of this transaction. Only one bidder submitted a binding offer 
by the deadline of 11 December, whereas two of the pre-qualified bidders 
proceeded to taking legal actions against the rejection of their applications 
for an extension of the submission deadline. The relevant Court issued an 
interim order on 28 December, according to which the two bidders’ claim 
was  valid  and  that  extension  should  had  been  granted.  Following  this 
decision,  the  Board  of  Hellenic  Republic  Asset  Development  Fund 
decided  on  26 January  to  set  1 April  2021  as  the  new  date  for  the 
submission of binding offers. As concerns the remaining pending actions, 
a  second  cluster  of  toll  stations  was  completed  and  put  in  operation  in 
January  and  February,  and  some  progress  was  made  in  relation  to  the 
required works necessary for the licensing of remaining 14 tunnels. Close 
monitoring will continue. 

Regional  ports  of  Alexandroupolis  and  Kavala:  Assessment  of  the 
investors’ Expressions of Interest and the short listing of the prequalified 
parties  for  the  Binding  Offers  Phase  is  expected  to  be  concluded  by 
end-February. 

The  regional  port  of  Igoumenitsa:  The  assessment  of  the  investors’ 
Expressions of Interest and the short listing of the prequalified parties for 
the Binding Offers Phase, is expected to be concluded by end-February. 

Public  Gas  Corporation  (DEPA)  Infrastructure:  The  Regulatory 
Authority for Energy approved the development plans for 2021-2025 for 

19 

 
 
Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

Public  administration.  Complete  the  integrated  HR  Management 
System (digital organigram for all public entities and link with single 
payment authority). 

the  three  subsidiaries  of  DEPA  Infrastructure  in  December  and  early 
February, providing further clarity on the framework for the operation of 
the distribution system operators.  

Underground  natural  gas  storage  South  Kavala:  The  Regulatory 
Authority for Energy is expected to issue a decision providing clarity on 
the tariff-setting framework by end-February. 

Some transactions had to be delayed following either a significant fall 
in the assets’ capitalisation value or level of economic activity due to 
the pandemic (1). 

The  modernisation  of  human  resource  management  is  progressing, 
with  almost  all  public  sector  entities  having  completed  their  digital 
organigrams, which constituted an end-2020 specific commitment. By 
mid-January,  1 665  general  government  entities  (90%  of  all  entities) 
finalised  their  digital  organigrams,  including  the  vast  majority  of  the 
remaining large entities with more than 20 employees, with only 13 large 
entities  remaining.  Progress  towards  establishing  a  link  between  the  job 
description  and  jobholder  has  been  rather  limited  during  this  reporting 
period,  and  currently  stands  at  47%  of  all  posts.  The  authorities  aim  to 
increase  the  percentage  to  above  60%  during  the  next  reporting  period, 
while also  completing the exercise of confirming the status  of each post 
(i.e.  occupied  –  vacant  –  on  hold).  The  authorities  have  taken  various 
actions to facilitate its completion, including making it a prerequisite for 
the  entities’  participation  in  the  mobility  scheme  or  launching  hiring 

1 This applies to the Hellenic Petroleum and the sale of 30% of Athens International Airport, as reported in the 8th enhanced surveillance report p. 17-18 and p. 67. 

20 

 
 
                                                 
Commitment 

Legal  codification.  In view of enhancing legal  certainty  and access 
to  law  through  legal  codification,  adopt  the  Labour  Law  Code  and 
Code of Labour Regulatory Provisions. 

Justice.  

In  the  context  of  implementing  the  Three-Year  Action  Plan  on 
legal  documents 
the  electronic  filing  of 
Justice, 
throughout the Courts, having completed the tendering procedure. 

implement 

In  the  context  of  implementing  the  Three-Year  Action  Plan  on 
Justice, complete phase II of the establishment of the e-justice system 
(OSDDY-PP). 

State of play and next steps 

procedures for new permanent staff. 

The  process  of  labour  law  codification  is  consequent  to  the  delay  in 
the labour law reform (see below). In terms of legislative procedures, it 
is  not  possible  to  carry  out  a  codification  process  while  a  reform  of  the 
same  provisions  to  be  codified  is  being  discussed.  The  government  is 
expected  to  submit  to  Parliament  the  Labour  Law  Code  and  Code  of 
Labour Regulatory Provisions by the third quarter of 2021. 

The  implementation  of  electronic  filing  is  hampered  by  delays. 
Although  mandatory  electronic  filing  and  notification  of  all  documents 
filed with administrative courts was required, under a 2019 statute, as of 
1 January  2020,  a  December  2020  amendment  suspended  its  entry  into 
force.  Rather  than  setting  a  new  fixed  due  date,  the  relevant  provision 
stipulates that, in as far as electronic filing requires the availability of the 
relevant infrastructure and the provision of the necessary training to staff, 
it will be implemented incrementally once the relevant infrastructure has 
been provided and the training of staff has been completed with respect to 
each  court  concerned.  The  authorities  provided  to  the  European 
institutions a list featuring the state of play of the availability of electronic 
filing,  covering  only  civil  courts  covered  by  first  phase  of  the  e-Justice 
project, mapping the current situation per court; they committed to submit 
an  action  plan  and  detailed  timetable  for  the  completion  of  the  project. 
Overall, the availability of e-filing is, to a greater or lesser extent, partial 
and, as far as can be ascertained, mainly restricted to those courts that are 
covered  by  the  first  phase  of  the  e-justice  project.  However,  even  there, 
the actual use of e-filing remains minimal.  

While some progress has been reported regarding the distribution of 

21 

 
 
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State of play and next steps 

digital signatures to judges and court employees, much remains to be 
done.  So  far,  900  out  of  a  total  of  11,000  such  signatures  have  been 
distributed;  the  Ministry  of  Justice  expects  the  distribution  to  be  fully 
completed  by  end-March  2021.  Regarding  the  distribution  of  digital 
signatures  to  lawyers,  given  that  the  Athens  Bar  Association  launched  a 
call for bids expiring on 29 January 2021, the provision of a certified e-
signature to every legal professional in Greece, a prerequisite for e-filing, 
is expected to extend into the next several months.  

Work on consolidating the court-related certificates is advancing. As 
of January 2020 the competence for the electronic conduct of consensual 
divorce  proceedings  has  been  given  to  notaries.  For  the  procedure  to 
become operational a number of necessary amendments to the Civil Code 
are  expected  to  be  adopted  by  April  2021;  the  issuance  of  secondary 
legislation  enabling  its  implementation  will  follow.  Regarding  the 
consolidated insolvency certificate, the authorities reported that it will be 
available to citizens upon the issuance of a circular by the Supreme Court 
and not later than end-March 2021. 

The authorities resolved to cancel the tendering procedure for phase 
II of the e-justice project and to relaunch the tender anew under the 
auspices of the entity responsible for carrying out the projects of the 
Ministry  of  Digital  Governance.  No  prior  notice  was  given  to,  or 
consultation  conducted  with,  the  European  institutions  before  this 
decision, taken on 22 January 2021. The authorities committed to provide 
a note delineating the scope of the new tender, describing next steps and 
setting a timetable for the launch of the tender by end-April 2021. 

Fight against corruption. Implement all recommendations made by  The  implementation  of  the  recommendations  is  progressing  but 

22 

 
 
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State of play and next steps 

the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) by mid-2021. 

implementing  them  fully  is  likely  to  take  place  somewhat  later  than 
expected.  The  authorities  have  successfully  implemented  12  of  the 
23 recommendations  from  2015  and  2019  and  plan  to  address  the  ones 
that do not need change in the Constitution in the course of 2021.  

Limited progress  took  place regarding other important initiatives in 
the fight against corruption.  The list of politically  exposed people that 
have to submit an asset declaration is  yet to be aligned with the updated 
definition of the politically exposed people. The results of the audit of the 
asset  declaration  for  years  2016-2019  are  expected  to  be  released  by 
autumn 2021. Moreover, bodies in charge of the asset declaration controls 
do  not  have  access  to  key  databases  such  as  the  one  of  the  tax 
administration. The external appraisal of the National Anticorruption Plan 
for  2018-2021  is  planned  for  mid-2021  and  will  be  instrumental  in 
sustaining the efforts to fight against corruption and ensuring the success 
of the Recovery and Resilience Plan. 

Complementary commitments undertaken by Greek authorities in May 2020  

Complementary commitment 

State of play and next steps 

improvements 

the  regulatory 
Better  regulation.  Achieve 
framework  for  doing  business  in  the  areas  of  construction  permits, 
to  electricity,  registering  property,  resolving 
obtaining  access 
insolvency,  accessing  credit,  protecting  minority 
investors, 
contracting  with  the  government,  enforcing  contracts,  starting  a 

in 

introduced 

include  actions  to  simplify  the 
Measures  recently 
requirements  for  registering  property  and  to  accelerate  the  issuance 
of  building  permits  through  system  interoperability  initiatives.  Work 
is  on  track  with  respect  to  interventions  scheduled  by  end-March.  These 
include  the  extension  of  the  interoperability  of  the  ‘e-adeies’  system  for 
building  permits  with  the  fire  service  system,  interconnecting  ‘e-EFKA’ 

23 

 
 
 
Complementary commitment 

State of play and next steps 

business, paying taxes, and trading across borders by mid-2021. 

social security system with the electronic one-stop-shop for businesses (e-
OSS) to reduce the time required for private companies (IKE) to become 
operational,  and simplifying and  reducing the  requirements for obtaining 
an electricity connection. In parallel, the authorities aim to deliver shortly 
expanded  action  plans  in  a  number  of  intervention  areas  such  as 
connecting to electricity, construction permits, and accessing credit. These 
are expected to comprise of a package of legislative actions, technological 
interventions, training and communication. 

Labour  law.  Improve  and  modernize  the  framework  for  individual 
labour  law,  including  tackling  the  issues  of  highly  restrictive 
overtime rules, unnecessary sectoral differentiation, white collar/blue 
collar rules, and take account of flexible and home working, as well 
as  implement  these  measures  through  secondary  legislation,  by 
September 2020. 

Given  the  need  to  prioritise  the  response  to  the  pandemic  and 
following  the  recent  government  reshuffle,  submission  of  the  labour 
law  reform  initially  foreseen  for  end-2020  has  been  delayed.  It  is 
currently  expected  that  the  Labour  Reform  law  will  be  tabled  in 
Parliament  in  March  and  legislated  in  April.  In  the  meantime,  the 
European institutions will be consulted on the draft law. 

Justice. Introduce an action plan for the creation of specialized court 
chambers for specific categories of cases to improve the delivery of 
justice, particularly in areas of high economic impact, and introduce 
the adequate legislation by mid-2020. 

Following  the  decisions  taken  by  the  Athens  Court  of  Appeal  and 
Court of First Instance, the Thessaloniki Court of Appeal and Court 
of First Instance also decided to create special chambers for the same 
categories  of  cases.  The  Athens  and  Thessaloniki  courts  of  appeal  have 
introduced 
internal 
regulations; however, no such implementation action has been taken so far 
by the first instance courts of Athens and Thessaloniki  as a result of the 
pandemic;  sessions  of  the  administration  formations  of  both  courts  are 
expected to be held by end-February 2021.  

relevant  amendments 

respective 

their 

the 

to 

Justice. Enact the new Code of Judicial Staff and present a timetable 
for the adoption of the New Code for the Organization of Justice and 

Work  on  the  adoption  of  the  new  Code  of  Judicial  Staff  is 
progressing, with some delays. Public consultation on the draft code was 
completed  on  21  January  2021.  The  code  is  currently  being  finalized  by 

24 

 
 
Complementary commitment 

State of play and next steps 

the Status of Officers of the Courts by May 2020. 

Justice.  Present  an  action  plan  for  the  Creation  of  a  specialized 
‘JustStat’  unit  for  data  collection  and  processing  to  measure  and 
improve  the  performance  of  the  judicial  system  by  mid-2020; 
introduce the relevant legislation by June 2020. 

the Central Law-drafting Committee, in view of tabling at the Parliament 
by  end-April  2021,  later  than  in  December  2020  noted  in  the  previous 
report. 

Contrary to the information reported in the 8th enhanced surveillance 
report,  the  Code  for  the  Organization  of  Justice  and  the  Status  of 
Officers of the Courts is expected to be further delayed as a result of the 
authorities’  decision  to  appoint  a  new  law-drafting  committee  with  the 
mandate  to  elaborate  a  new  draft  addressing  issues  considered  of  high 
importance, also based on the input of technical assistance. 

Work on the creation of the JustStat unit is progressing on schedule. 
The  drafting  of  a  Presidential  Decree  detailing  the  setup  and  function  of 
the  unit  has  been  completed  and  the  draft  is  expected  to  be  submitted 
shortly to  the Council of State for the constitutionality check. Regarding 
the call for bids, the authorities informed the European institutions that it 
would be launched by end-February 2021. 

Public  administration.  Strengthen  the  efficiency  of  the  personnel 
selection  system  through  improving  the  capacity  of  the  Supreme 
Council for Civil Personnel Selection (ASEP), including in the areas 
of  competition  procedures,  scoring  classification  procedures, 
temporary staff hiring procedures, and the Council’s organisation by 
end-2022.  

A  law  strengthening  the  Personnel  Selection  Council  has  been 
adopted  by  the  Parliament.  This  constitutes  a  key  step  in  modernising 
the  selection  process.  It  introduces  new  selection  methods,  such  as 
psychometric and written tests. A detailed action plan that will set out how 
the provisions of this law, including  the organisational  transformation of 
Council, will be implemented, is expected to be completed by May 2021. 

Public  administration.  Strengthen  the  hiring  control  of  the  public 
sector  through  setting  an  annual  ceiling  of  temporary  staff  by  end-
2020, which will be applied from 2021. 

The  methodology  for  planning  of  temporary  staff  needs  has  been 
completed.  It  aims  at  the  rationalization  of  the  system  and  the  re-
definition  of  the  temporary  vs.  seasonal  personnel  and  will  allow  for 
setting an annual ceiling on temporary staff by April 2021, which will be 

25 

 
 
Complementary commitment 

State of play and next steps 

Transport.  Report on the progress  of the elaboration of sustainable 
urban mobility plans for the main urban centres by October 2020. 

applied as of this year. 

The sustainable urban mobility plans have not progressed during the 
reporting  period.  The  law  on  revising  the  legal  framework  will  be 
submitted  to  Parliament  shorty.  Eighteen  municipalities  have  submitted 
draft mobility plans, but  these cannot  be approved before the revision of 
the  legal  framework.  On  the  reform  of  the  rail  sector,  the  steering 
committee  that  was  set  last  October  has  agreed  on  rail  projects  for  the 
period 2021-23 and is finalizing the projects up to 2027. The project of the 
EU funded technical adviser that will assist with the reorganisation of the 
railway companies is expected to start in February 2021. 

Management of public real estate. Draw up a holistic and coherent 
strategy  aiming  to  optimize  the  protection,  management  and 
investment-oriented  exploitation  of  public  real  estate,  including  all 
organizations  involved  with  public  real  estate  management,  without 
prejudice to their mandates, by September 2020. 

A working group was set up in mid-January, to determine the scope 
and  timeline  of  the  study,  expected  by  end-March.  The  group  is 
composed  of  representatives  of  the  Ministry  of  Finance,  the  Hellenic 
Corporation of Assets and Participations, the Public Real Estate Company 
(ETAD) and university professors. 

Strategic project pipeline. Fully develop a Strategic Project Pipeline 
of large infrastructure projects with the objective to better coordinate 
and  monitor 
and  maximize 
complementarities  between  private,  public  and  EU  funded  projects 
by January 2021. 

expenditures 

public 

future 

The  establishment  of  a  Strategic  Projects  Pipeline  will  be  crucial  to 
plan  and  implement  public  investment  projects,  especially  for  the 
Recovery  and  Resilience  Facility.  Draft  legislative  amendments  for  the 
establishment  of  the  Strategic  Projects  Pipeline  have  been  prepared  and 
will be adopted by mid-March. The Pipeline will be governed by a high-
level  Steering  committee,  with  a  Task  Force  consisting  of  senior  staff 
from relevant Ministries being given the responsibility for evaluating and 
selecting projects. 

Project  preparation  facility.  Develop  and  fully  operationalize  an 
improved  support  and  delivery  mechanism  for  project  preparation 

Draft legislative amendments that will add the mandate of the Project 
Preparation  Facility  to  the  Hellenic  Republic  Asset  Development 

26 

 
 
Complementary commitment 

State of play and next steps 

and  implementation  to  ensure  efficiency  and  quality  of  both  public 
sector infrastructure projects as well as Public Private Partnerships by 
March 2021. 

Public  procurement.  Adopt  a  new  public  procurement  strategy  for 
2021–2025 by end 2020. 

Fund are under preparation and are expected to be adopted by mid-
March.  It  will  be  important  to  ensure  that  appropriate  safeguards  are  in 
place so that the Fund can continue to independently exercise its existing 
core  mandate.  The  timely  set-up  of  Project  Preparation  Facility  will  be 
crucial  to  speed  up  the  delivery  of  Recovery  and  Resilience  Fund  and 
other public investment projects.  The process  for recruitment  of staff for 
the new Facility is underway and will be completed by April 2021, whilst 
preparations for the tendering for technical consultants have been initiated. 

The  new  law  on  public  procurement  is  expected  to  be  adopted  by 
March; its full implementation will be crucial for ensuring a smooth 
absorption  of  available  financial  resources  and  supporting  the 
recovery. The new law  aims to  address  the identified weaknesses of the 
public  procurement’s  legal  framework  (see  the  8th  enhanced  surveillance 
report). The necessary secondary legislation will follow in three batches in 
April, May and August 2021.  

An  ambitious  public  procurement  strategy  for  2021-2025,  which  is 
expected  to  support  the  green  and  digital  transition  and  strengthen 
the  fight  against  corruption,  has  been  drafted  and  is  expected  to  be 
adopted  by  the  end  of  April.  The  delay  in  the  adoption  of  the  strategy 
compared to the initial end-2020 target is mainly due to the extension of 
the public consultation phase and the time needed to assess and reflect the 
comments  received.  The  strategy  will  start  to  be  implemented  after  its 
adoption. 

E-Health.  Develop  an  electronic  Medical  Health  Record 
to 
streamline the use of existing electronic medical  record applications 
and  update  as  necessary  the  design  and  use  of  agreed  electronic 

Various  elements  of  the  implementation  of  the  e-medical  record  are 
progressing, despite delays. A Ministerial Decision on broadening access 
to  the  e-medical  record  to  a  wider  set  of  medical  professions  is  close  to 

27 

 
 
Complementary commitment 

State of play and next steps 

medical  record  standard  across  public  (and  private)  healthcare 
institutions by end-2020. 

completion.  Work  on  interoperability  is  progressing,  with  a  legislative 
element planned for February. 

E-Health.  Extend  the  application  of  the  electronic  prescription 
project (2nd phase), including through therapeutic protocols, back-end 
inquiries,  necessary 
intelligence  driven 
integrations,  artificial 
interconnection  with  information  systems,  and  enabling  electronic 
request  and  access  to  medicine  for  all  outpatients  with  chronic 
diseases by end-2020. 

Health  care  strategy.  Develop  a  National  strategic  policy 
framework for healthcare by end-2020. 

Health  care  planning.  Map  health  and  long-term  care  needs  with 
available human and technical resources, and take measures to ensure 
the efficiency, sustainability, accessibility and affordability of health 
and  long-term  care  services,  as  well  as  promote  community-based 
services, by end 2020. 

Education.  Enhance 
the  autonomy  of  higher  education  by 
strengthening  the  accountability  and  transparency  framework  and 
through the introduction of the University Council by end-2020. 

Progress 
is  expected  to  resume  after  the  medical  emergency 
dissipates. Nevertheless, progress is ongoing in expanding the system of 
teleconsultation,  which  will  be  linked  to  telemedicine,  with  a  view  to 
eventually bringing together e-health and m-health (mobile health care). 

Progress 
is  expected  to  resume  after  the  medical  emergency 
dissipates. An important element of the policy framework will be defining 
an anti-corruption strategy. 

Progress 
dissipates. 

is  expected  to  resume  after  the  medical  emergency 

A  bill  on  Higher  Education  was  adopted  by  Parliament  on 
11 February. The bill addresses the important issue of safety and security 
within  the  universities’  campuses  that  were  suffering  from  illegal 
activities  negatively  affecting  the  educational  processes.  The  bill  also 
reforms  the  selection  and  entry  system  with  the  view  to  increasing  the 
completion  rate  and 
the  standards  required  for  students  entering 
universities. A minimum grade will required, there will be more focus on 
the  preferences  of  the  students  in  the  selection  process,  a  limit  on  the 
number of years in which a student has to complete his/her studies will be 

28 

 
 
Complementary commitment 

State of play and next steps 

introduced  (limiting  the  “eternal  students”  problem),  and  a  new  option 
will  be  opened  towards  the  vocational  education  path.  A  second  bill  on 
autonomy and governance of universities will follow in April 2021. 

Education. Improve vocational education through the establishment 
of the National System of Vocational Education and Training by end-
2020. 

Introduce 

Education. 
evaluations, 
internal 
institutionalize  external  assessment  of  schools,  and  design  new 
curricula for all subjects across all school levels by end-2021. 

school-unit 

E-governance. Develop the single digital portal (gov.gr) to integrate 
all  electronic  transactions  for  citizens  and  businesses  with  the  state 
and related information, unify the legal framework on digital policy, 
and  safeguard  business  continuity  by  ensuring  sufficiency  of  digital 
infrastructure mid-2021. 

29 

thus 

A new law reforming vocational education and training was adopted 
commitment.  The 
on  17  December, 
implementation of the law started with the setting of the central council of 
vocational  education  and  training  and  the  regional  committees.  A  key 
issue will be the active collaboration of the ministry of labour in particular 
as far as the market needs diagnostic is concerned. 

completing 

the 

The  ministerial  decision  for  the  planning  of  internal  and  external 
evaluations  of  school  units  was  signed  on  19 January  2021.  The 
planning had to be adjusted to the new school environment that has been 
affected by the pandemic. The bill on the teachers’ assessment is planned 
to be tabled in March 2021 and will be applicable from the next academic 
year.  In  total  150  new  curricula  for  general  education  and  388  for 
vocational  education  are  under  preparation  and  will  be  rolled  out  on  a 
pilot basis in the academic year 2021-22. 

Digital  public  sector  services  are  being  continuously  expanded,  with 
the  single  digital  portal  now  featuring  some  1 100  digital  services, 
backed  by  legislative  initiatives  to  operationalise  the  new  legal 
framework. The new functionalities, developed in line with the roadmap, 
include  a  new  classification  that  allowed  the  integration  of  some  200 
services  offered  at  regional  level,  interoperability  with  citizens’  service 
centres,  and  a  user  helpdesk.  Further,  the  authorities  presented  an  initial 
overview  of  secondary  legislation  deriving  from  the  recently  adopted 
Digital Code. Out of the total 84 acts of secondary legislation identified, 

 
 
Complementary commitment 

State of play and next steps 

seven  have  already  been  adopted,  including  the  terms  and  requirements 
for  remote  identification  of  natural  persons  for  the  purpose  of  issuing  a 
trust  service  certificate,  and 
the 
interoperability of registries and systems; an additional 26 acts have been 
prioritised by end-April. 

technical  specifications  for 

the 

Process  simplification  and  digitalisation  continues,  among  others,  in 
the areas of business process registration, electronic delivery of court 
certificates,  and  the  first  phase  of  legal  codification  concerning 
tourism  and  archaeological  legislation.  In  order  to  facilitate  such 
initiatives, more than 20 web services were implemented so far, including 
on user authentication for public servants and data signature using digital 
certificates.  Moreover,  work  is  underway  on  the  cleansing  of  data  and 
matching of citizens’ records across different public registries, with a view 
to  completing  the  set-up  of  a  “master  interoperability  registry”  by 
end-April.  Further,  the  authorities  delivered  a  short-term  work  plan  for 
simplification, and expect to finalise a full action plan shortly. Key actions 
prioritised  by  end-April,  include  the  review  of  public  procurement 
processes and the financial management framework for payments, and the 
codification of tax legislation. 

The joint tender is experiencing legal complications. The award of the 
contract, which was expected by April, will be delayed. 

E-governance.  Implement  the  National  Programme  for  Process 
Simplification in key policy areas and promote the interoperability of 
registries, data and IT systems to ease the administrative burden for 
businesses and citizens by end-2021. 

Digitisation of geospatial data.  

Develop a State Infrastructures Registry to encapsulate technical and 
geospatial  information  about  all  public  infrastructure  projects  to 
enable  better  planning  and  management  of  these  projects,  including 
for construction and maintenance purposes by end-2021.  

Develop an Integrated Geospatial Data Mapping tool (Single Digital 

30 

 
 
Complementary commitment 

State of play and next steps 

Map) to increase transparency to investors concerning land use rules 
across  Greece  and  reduce  unpredictability  in  relation  to  investment 
licensing decisions by end-2021. 

31