COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance Report - Greece, June 2021 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update - Greece, June 2021
Date: 2021-06-02
Institutions: Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission
Subjects: Euro Group (euro area), Greece, coronavirus disease, economic recovery, epidemic, gross domestic product, macroeconomics, multilateral surveillance, stability programme, structural adjustment

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 2.6.2021  SWD(2021) 528 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Enhanced Surveillance Report - Greece, June 2021 Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Enhanced Surveillance update - Greece, June 2021 {COM(2021) 528 final}  
 
 
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) (1) 

Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

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

The  General  Escape  Clause  was  activated  in  agreement  between  the 
European  Commission  and  the  European  Council  in  March  2020  and 
remains  active  in  2021  as  indicated  in  the  Annual  Sustainable  Growth 
Strategy  2021.  The  General  Escape  Clause  allows  for  a  temporary 
departure  from  the  budgetary  requirements,  including  Greece’s  fiscal 
targets  monitored  under  enhanced  surveillance,  provided  that  this  does 
not endanger fiscal sustainability in the medium term. In March 2021, the 
Commission  adopted  a  Communication  suggesting  that  Member  States 
with  high  debt  levels  as  Greece  should  pursue  prudent  fiscal  policies  in 
2022, while preserving nationally-financed investment and making use of 
grants under the Recovery and Resilience Facility to fund additional high-
quality  investment  projects  and  structural  reforms.  On  the  basis  of  the 
Commission’s  2021  spring  forecast,  on  2  June  the  Commission 
considered that the conditions for the continued application of the general 
escape  clause  in  2022  and  its  deactivation  as  of  2023  are  met.  Country-
specific  situations  will  continue  to  be  taken  into  account  after  the 
deactivation of the general escape clause (2).  

(1) The report was prepared taking into account information available up to the cut-off date 27 May 2021. 
(2)  See  ‘Communication  from  the  Commission  on  Economic  policy  coordination  in  2021:  overcoming  COVID-19,  supporting  the  recovery  and  modernising  our 

economy’, Brussels, 2.6.2021, COM(2021)500 final. 

1 

 
                                                 
Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

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. 

(*) 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. 

2 

The implementation of functional classification is progressing. It will 
be  fully  completed  by  April  2022,  at  a  broader  basis  than  initially 
envisaged.  The  necessary  IT  specifications  to  support  the  first  phase  of 
the  functional  classification  (1st  level)  in  both  the  investment  and  non-
investment budgets have been completed. Work ensuring interoperability 
of the public investment IT payment system with the central IT system is 
ongoing  and  is  assisted  by  technical  support  provided  by  the  European 
Commission. The authorities prepared a road map with a timetable for the 
completion  of  the  functional  classification  by  end  of  April  2022. 
According  to  the  roadmap,  the  1st  level  of  the  functional  classification 
will  be  completed  by  October  2021  and  published  in  November  in  the 
context  of  the  preparation  of  the  2022  budget,  while  the  2nd  level  is 
planned  to  be  completed  by  April  2022.  The  European  institutions 
welcome  the  fact  that  the  authorities  intend  to  apply  the  1st  level  of  the 
functional  classification, to  be presented in  2022 budget,  also  to  general 
government  entities.  As  regards  the  accounting  reform,  the  new  accrual 
accounting  framework  is  already  being  implemented  in  the  central 
administration and will be further  enhanced with the rollout to  cover all 
general  government  entities  as  planned  in  the  Recovery  and  Resilience 
Plan.  

According  to  February  2021  data,  the  stock  of  net  arrears  reached 
€1.1 billion, up by €96 million compared to the December 2020 level 
presented in the last report. The stock of non-pension arrears increased 
to €614 million in February compared to €485 million in December 2020, 
while  the  backlog  of  unprocessed  pension  claims  decreased  slightly  to 
€461  million,  compared  with  €494 million  in  December  2020.  The 
increase  in  the  non-pension  arrears  was  mainly  observed  in  local 

 
 
 
 
 
Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

governments  and  extra-budgetary  funds  and  is  attributed  to  the  lack  of 
liquidity due to lower revenues due to the outbreak of the pandemic. To 
tackle the issue, the authorities decided to provide additional liquidity to 
the  entities  facing  a  shortage,  which  will  be  earmarked  to  arrears 
clearance.  Another  factor  behind  the  increase  in  arrears  are  seasonal 
fluctuations in the sector of hospitals (see below).  

The authorities prepared a comprehensive analysis of the drivers of 
the accumulation of arrears, which identified additional factors out of 
the  direct  control  of  the  government.  First,  the  analysis  pointed  to 
seasonal fluctuations within the year in specific subsectors, such as in the 
tax  administration  and  hospitals,  which  reflect  the  annual  submission  of 
tax  refunds  claims  or  the  hospitals’  procurement  processes.  Seasonal 
effects  average  out  throughout  the  year  but  can  account  for  up  to  €163 
million  (slightly  less  than  0.1%  of  GDP)  at  a  specific  point  in  time. 
Second,  human  factors  (e.g.  temporary  shortages  in  personnel,  leaves, 
etc.)  and  unexpected  operational  obstacles  can  justify  the  existence  of  a 
minimum stock of arrears linked to rolling obligations (i.e. arrears that are 
repaid but the overall stock cannot be completely cleared as new payment 
obligations  continue  to  flow  in).  Across  all  subsectors,  these  factors 
account  for  €116  million  (less  than  0.1%  of  GDP),  representing  a  very 
small fraction of each subsector’s respective accrual expenditure. Finally, 
a minor additional adjustment (€21 million) will be introduced to cater for 
the  time  lag  between  the  realization  of  expenditure  supported  from  EU 
funds  and  the  payment  of  the  claim  by  the  EU.  Overall,  the  factors 
mentioned above lead to a reassessment  of the stock of net  non-pension 
arrears monitored under enhanced surveillance from €614 million to €302 
million  in  February  2021.  The  European  institutions  consider  that  the 

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Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

reassessment  of  the  stock  is  final  and  ensures  the  credibility  and 
attainability of the targets set out in the updated clearance plan. 

liquidity, 

the  above-mentioned  additional 

The March 2021 update of the clearance plan aims to materially clear 
non-pension  arrears  by  June  2021,  in  line  with  the  agreement 
reached  in  the  context  of  the  9th  report  and  incorporating  the 
structural  impediments  beyond  the  authorities’  control  mentioned 
above.  Apart  from 
the 
authorities  committed  to  enhance  their  efforts  to  improve  the  quality  of 
reporting, with a particular focus on expenses that should be rejected from 
the Commitment Registry due to legality issues. In addition, the incentive 
mechanism  for  the  prevention  of  accumulation  of  arrears  at  local  level, 
which  entered  into  effect  in  January  2021,  is  expected  to  be  fully 
operational  by  the  end  of  second  quarter  of  2021.  According  to  this 
mechanism, the local governments will be obliged to submit every quarter 
a list with the remaining arrears accompanied by a justification for their 
non-payment  and  to  transfer  the  amounts  equivalent  to  the  arrears  to  a 
special  account  at  the  Consignment  Deposits  and  Loan  Fund  (CDLF) 
earmarked for arrears payment.  

A number of additional measures have been adopted to accelerate the 
clearance  of  pension  arrears  with  full  clearance  planned  for 
end-2021.  The  authorities  adopted  additional  measures  including  the 
introduction  of  an  advance  payment  to  those  who  have  submitted  a 
pension  application,  the  increase  of  personnel  dealing  with  manual 
processing  and  the  creation  of  a  Task  Force  which  has  the  expertise  to 
propose  IT  and  administrative  changes  as  well  as  legal  amendments 
which will accelerate/facilitate the pension clearance. 

4 

 
 
Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

implementation  of 

The 
the  Hellenic  Court  of  Auditors’ 
recommendations is  underway. The implementation  of the majority of 
the  recommended  structural  reforms  are  now  closely  monitored  by  the 
Steering  Committee  for  arrears  due  to  its  reinforcement  from  ministries 
responsible  for  the  implementation  of  a  large  number  of  the  remaining 
recommendations.  The Steering Committee provided a detailed progress 
report,  which  also  included  the  entities  that  do  not  participate  in  the 
Steering  Committee.  Overall,  the  majority  of  the  recommendations  are 
fully  addressed  and  the  implementation  of  the  remaining  ones  shows 
overall  good  progress.  Delays  were  observed  in  the  preparation  of  the 
interim  report  from  the  working  group  responsible  for  simplifying  the 
legislative  framework  for  the  conduct  of  fiscal  procedures  given  that 
consultations  with  the  General  Secretariats  of  Fiscal  Services  have  not 
been  completed  yet.  The  consultations  are  seen  as  instrumental  in 
defining  the  required  legislative  amendments.  However,  the  final  report 
including  legislative  proposals  for  the  simplification  of  the  fiscal 
procedures  and  elimination  of  bottlenecks  is  expected  to  be  completed 
within the agreed timeframe, i.e. by the end of July. 

The  new  law  setting  out  the  conceptual  framework  regarding  the 
internal  control  in  the  public  administration was  adopted  in  April 
2021. The National  Transparency  Authority has  provided an action plan 
on the roll out of internal control systems in accordance with the new law. 
According  to  the  plan,  the  establishment  and  the  operationalization  of 
internal control units in all ministries would be completed by the end of 
September 2021 while the regulatory acts, which will set the criteria for 
the  establishment  of  internal  audit  units  in  general  government  entities, 
would be prepared  by the end of the  year.  In addition,  the evaluation  of 

5 

 
 
Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

Tax administration. 

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. 

the  public  financial  management  component  of  the  internal  control 
framework  has  started,  with  findings  expected  to  be  submitted  by  end-
June 2021. 

Following  the  adoption  of  the  supplementary  wage  grid,  the  overall 
human  resources  reform  of  the  Independent  Authority  of  Public 
Revenue  will  come  into  effect  as  of  1 June  2021.  The  authorities 
confirmed that the secondary legislation setting up a grading system will 
be  in  place  prior  to  its  launch.  The  number  of  staff  of  the  Independent 
Authority  remains  well  below  the  targets  set  and  has  actually  decreased 
recently (11 736 at the end of March 2021 compared to 11 848 at the end 
of  2020).  The  comprehensive  human  resources  reform  is  expected  to 
reverse  the  trend  by  making  it  easier  for  the  Independent  Authority  to 
attract and retain high calibre staff. The roll-out of the reform, including 
relevant  verifications  of  salary  calculations  according  to  the  new  wage 
grid,  is  expected  to  take  place  gradually  from  June  until  August  2021. 
Salary  differences  according  to  the  new  wage  grid  will  be  paid 
retroactively as of 1 June. 

The  end-to-end  IT  collection  system  is  expected  to  enter  a  testing 
phase  in  July  and  become  fully  operational  by  November  2021.  The 
training  of  the  Independent  Authority’s  staff  on  the  new  IT  system  has 
been brought  forward, in order to  ensure that the  Independent  Authority 
will be in a position to fully utilise this new IT system once ready. 

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 

The authorities have completed a nationwide revaluation exercise of 
property  prices,  including  a  considerable  expansion  of  the  property 
tax base from 85% to some 95% of properties and the full digitisation 
of  the  new  zones.  Through  a  Ministerial  Decision  of  18 May  2021,  the 

6 

 
 
Commitment 

values. 

(*) Health care. The authorities will complete the full offsetting and 
collection  of  the  clawback  by  June  every  year  for  the  previous 
calendar year. 

7 

State of play and next steps 

new objective property values were officially adopted and published and 
they  will  come  into  force  on  1 January  2022  for  ENFIA  and  all  other 
taxes, including Property Transfer tax and Inheritance tax.  

The Authorities plan a major reform of the ENFIA property tax for 
2022  based  on  the  new  property  tax  values.  This  will  entail  a 
comprehensive  updating  of  the  ENFIA  tax  base,  based  on  the  newly-
digitised value zones of the wider property tax based. The wider tax base 
will allow a major reform to the ENFIA property tax system that will be 
legislated  by  November  2021.  The  2022  ENFIA  tax  assessment  will  be 
brought forward to the beginning of 2022 with first payments by March 
2022. ENFIA tax payments will thus be smoothed over the entire calendar 
year, rather than concentrated with the income tax payments in the second 
half of the year. 

The  collection  of  the  clawback  is  progressing  despite  delays.  For 
providers,  the  collection  for  2018  and  2019  is  progressing,  although  it 
started  only  recently  and  after  considerable  delays.  For  these  years, 
respectively 5% and 8% of the clawback has currently been collected and, 
of  the  uncollected  amounts,  more  than  92%  for  both  years  are  being 
collected through instalments, the duration of which can reach 10 years in 
some  cases.  To  avoid  the  accumulation  of  such  delays,  the  authorities 
have introduced a new collection system for providers, under which 70% 
of  the  clawback  will  be  collected  upfront  on  a  rolling  basis  and  the 
remaining  30%  through  instalments  and  the  bill  introducing  this  new 
collection method has been submitted to Parliament. For pharmaceuticals, 
the  delays  in  collection  are  less  severe  and  the  clawback  for  2018  and 
2019 are collected for approximately 80% of the overall amount. In view 
of the delays in collecting the clawback, the statistical authorities decided 

 
 
Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

to  abandon  the  use  of  the  clawback  ceiling  in  fiscal  recording  (see  the 
fiscal section in the Communication).  

to, 

compares 

respectively, 

The  clawback  for  2020  was  quantified  at  €795 888€(  noillimؘ million 
including  high-cost  drugs(  for  pharmaceuticals  and  €280 million  for 
€787 million 
providers,  which 
(€869 million  including  high-cost  drugs(  and  €301  million  in  2019. 
While for providers the levels are rather stable around €300 million, the 
clawback on pharmaceuticals was rising consistently since 2012, with the 
pace  exceeding  30%  per  year  since  2017.  From  2019  to  2020,  the 
clawback remained stable, but  this seems  driven by the exclusion of the 
spending  for  vaccines  in  2020.  The  clawback  for  providers  slightly 
decreased over the past two years. The amounts were officially notified to 
providers,  making  it  possible  for  the  collection  to  start,  while  for 
pharmaceuticals,  the  collection  of  the  first  semester  has  already  started 
following a slight delay. According to the original timeline, the collection 
should be almost complete up to the second semester of 2020 by June of 
2021. The Ministerial Decision setting the ceilings for providers for 2021 
has been signed and is expected to be published in the next days.  

The  clawbacks,  especially  for  pharmaceuticals,  are  still  on  an 
increasing path. While no new structural measures have been presented 
to avoid the creation of new clawbacks, progress was reported on health 
technology  assessments  and  negotiations,  both  of  them  being  important 
tools to increase the efficiency of spending.  

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

The authorities submitted a first draft of the revised primary health 
care law. The preliminary draft does not cover key elements of the new 
system  such  as  the  implementation  of  gatekeeping  and  the  registration 

8 

 
 
Commitment 

units. 

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

State of play and next steps 

procedure to achieve full population coverage. In addition, the authorities 
are working on legislation defining the new organisational setup of health 
centres,  which  will  host  the  outstanding  primary  health  care  units 
(currently  approximately  100),  and  set  out 
the  new  contractual 
arrangements  for  family  doctors.  The  recent  call  to  recruit  staff  for  the 
new primary health care units has led to  more than 20 000  applications. 
Of  these,  however,  only  317  were  applications  from  doctors,  which 
creates a bottleneck towards the opening of new primary health care units. 
The  successful  roll-out  of  the  primary  health  care  network  crucially 
hinges on the success of the new contractual models to attract new family 
doctors  and  on  the  adoption  of  a  revised  legislative  framework  by  the 
time of the 11th report.  

The  authorities  are  about  to  reach  the  30%  procurement  target, 
when  the  value  of  launched  tenders  is  considered.  Tenders  for  an 
overall value of more than €250 million were launched in May 2021, of 
which approximately a third covered tenders for pharmaceuticals. In total, 
tenders  for  approximately  €400 million  have  already  been  launched 
(some of which cover both 2021 and 2022 procurements). An electronic 
platform  to  monitor  tenders  is  underway,  and  a  project  to  upgrade 
procurement  systems  of  hospitals  is  envisaged  (meeting  both  the 
requirements  of  the  National  Central  Authority  of  Health  Procurements 
(EKAPY) and needs of hospitals). The final draft of the legislation for the 
Central  Authority  for  will  be  submitted  to  Parliament  by  mid-June, 
having  completed  public  consultation,  expected  by  mid-end  May.  The 
law is  expected to  be adopted by the time of the publication of the next 
report. 

The  Price  Observatory  has  been  reactivated  and  decisions  for  price 

9 

 
 
Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

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. 

changes  were  issued  for  260  products.  The  new  legislation  for  the 
Central  Authority  envisages  a  price  range  observatory,  which  will 
determine  the  acceptable  range  based  on  criteria  such  as  quantity, 
distance, regional and product-specific characteristics. 

The  nationwide  rollout  of  the  third  pillar  has  been  postponed  from 
1 April to 1 June 2021, due to disruptions caused by the pandemic to 
some of its required steps. Remaining preparatory work mainly concerns 
a) the IT adjustments of the platform of the Government Centre for Social 
Security Services (IDIKA) and its interconnection with the IT systems of 
the public employment service (OAED) and the Community Centres and 
b)  the  setting  up  of  the  implementation  guide  and  other  supporting 
material.  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. 

Following  the  legislative  changes  and  payments  to  the  majority  of 
transport  operators  earlier  in  the  year,  the  Authorities  adopted  the 
last required legislative amendments in Article 86 of law 4796/2021 of 
17 April 2021 to complete this commitment. A Ministerial Decision (3) 
will  ensure  the  last  required  transport  benefit  payments  will  be  made  to 
the Thessaloniki Urban Transport Organisation (OASTH) by 8 June 2021. 

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

The  authorities  will 
in  September  2020  to  use  the 
functionality-based  disability  assessment  system  to  assess  benefit 

legislate 

(3) Diavgeia 6NNM465ΧΘΞ-7ΜΠ. 

10 

 
 
                                                 
Commitment 

assessment. 

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

(*)  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 

11 

State of play and next steps 

eligibility  in  their  new  trial  programme  of  personal  assistance  to 
disabled  people.  This  means  the  new  assessment  scheme  will  be  used 
directly  for  in-kind  benefit  decisions  from  the  first  quarter  of  next  year, 
rather than a  further pilot  of the functionality system being  needed. The 
submission  and  evaluation  of  applications  for  the  new  in-kind  benefits 
using  the  functionality-based  system  will  start  in  March  2022.  The 
existing  medical-based  assessment  system  will  be  retained  for  other 
disability benefits. 

The  organisational  setup  of  the  single  pension  fund  (e-EFKA)  is 
ongoing  and  will  follow  the  implementation  timeline  for  the 
remaining  directories.  The  merging  of  the  outstanding  funds  is 
progressing,  with  the  fund  for  bank  employees  (TAITEKO)  recently 
completed,  farmers  (OGA)  close  to  completion  and  engineers,  doctors 
and  lawyers  (ETAA)  progressing  smoothly.  The  authorities  provided  a 
timeline for the completion of all the 120 directories that are needed for 
the  finalisation  of  the  organisational  setup  of  e-EFKA  by  the  fourth 
quarter  of  2021,  which  is  later  than  initially  envisaged  as  the  process 
suffers from challenges linked to the pandemic. Delays in pension awards 
noted in the previous reports have not been reduced yet but the authorities 
are taking actions, including staff training, to  reduce the period between 
filing a claim and approving the level of a pension to three months. 

The  work  on  the  implementation  of  the  new  Insolvency  Code  by 
1 June 2021 is on track, with the exception of the sale and lease-back 
mechanism.  Following  the  entry  into  force  of  the  framework  on  the 
rehabilitation  of  companies  and  corporate  bankruptcy  on  1 March  2021, 
20  out  of  a  total  of  30  ministerial  decisions  necessary  for  the 
implementation of the insolvency law have been published or are pending 

 
 
Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

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

publication in  the Official Journal  by end-May 2021. The 10 ministerial 
decisions that are outstanding concern the Early Warning mechanism and 
are  at  an  advanced  stage  of  drafting,  and  those  related  to  the  sale  and 
lease-back  mechanism,  which  will  be  drafted  by  end-June,  for  adoption 
by end-July 2021. Work on the relevant IT infrastructure, which involves 
the  Out-of-Court  Workout,  the  Insolvency  register  and  the  vulnerable 
debtors’  verification  electronic  platforms,  is  also  proceeding  as  planned 
and  is  expected  to  be  completed  by  1 June  2021.  In  order  to  further 
improve  the  functionality  of  the  framework,  a  second  phase  of  work, 
allowing for the fully automated handling of applications by creditors, is 
planned to  be  completed by the  end of September 2021, while the early 
warning  IT  platform  will  become  operational  by  the  end  of  November 
2021.  

The  concessionary  process  for  the  set-up  of  the  sale  and  lease-back 
entity  is  expected  to  take  significantly  longer  than  initially  expected 
but  will  not  affect  the  implementation  of  the  other  aspects  of  the 
framework. The delay is due to the addition of procedural steps prior to 
the  call  for  tenders,  in  line  with  legal  requirements  for  concessions. 
Following a call for tenders scheduled for publication in early September 
2021  and  the  ratification  of  the  outcome  by  parliament  in  early  January 
2022, the entity is expected to be in place by end-March 2022. According 
to  the  provision  of  article  226  para.  2  of  the  Insolvency  Code,  the 
procedures  for  the  protection  of  vulnerable  debtors  under  the  sale  and 
lease-back mechanism will commence upon its operationalization.  

The  processing  of  the  backlog  of  insolvency  law  cases  has  been 
delayed reflecting disruptions caused by the pandemic. As a result of 
the  suspension  of  the  functioning  of  courts,  eventually  lifted  on  5 April 

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State of play and next steps 

2021,  deadlines  for  initial  submissions  of  petitions  and  the  subsequent 
filings of written arguments and evidence by the parties were suspended. 
As a result, submissions of above-described documents by the parties will 
be  due  by  3 June  2021,  whereupon  the  case  files  will  be  closed  and  the 
procedure  for  the  setting  of  a  hearing  date  will  be  resumed.  Moreover, 
hearings  that  were  scheduled  within  the  suspension  period  were 
adjourned  and  new  hearing  dates  were  reappointed  ex  officio  by  courts. 
To avoid further delays, the authorities adopted a provision mandating the 
parties to seek new hearing dates for such adjourned cases if the hearings 
already appointed go beyond 30 June 2021 (4). The European institutions 
encouraged the authorities to set a new credible yet ambitious timeline for 
the completion of this commitment taking into account the delays due to 
the pandemic (5).  

The  horizontal  suspension  of  enforcement  proceedings,  including  e-
auctions  during  the  second  tightening  of  the  containment  measures 
was eventually lifted as of 5 April 2021, allowing for a gradual restart 
of  all  enforcement  steps.  It  was  substituted  by  a  more  targeted 
suspension of auctions,  evictions and foreclosures of primary residences 
of debtors affected by the pandemic until the end of May 2021. This is a 
positive  development,  as  the  protracted  generalised  freezing  of  all 
enforcement steps, including preparatory ones, might have had an adverse 
effect  on  Greek  banks’  efforts  to  accelerate  the  reduction  of  non-

(4)  Article 237 of law 4798/2021 (OJ Α 68/24.04.2021). 
(5)  According to data submitted by the authorities, as of 12 April 2021, 5 025 petitions for the appointment of new hearings had been filed with court secretariats and 
were  being  processed  by  the  latter,  18 014  petitions  had  been  processed  and  notified  to  the  parties  and  11 779  petitions  were  withdrawn.  Regarding  this  last 
category, lack of data prevents an estimate as to the percentage of withdrawals due to lack of willingness to comply with the requirement to lift the banking secrecy. 

13 

 
 
                                                 
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performing  loans,  as  well  as  on  servicers’  business  plan  targets.  Most 
auctions  will  be  rescheduled  after  the  summer,  limiting  thus  the  total 
number  of  auctions  to  be  conducted  in  2021,  to  below  pre-pandemic 
levels. 

the 

legislation  passed 

implementation  of  recently 

legislated  additional 
Despite 
functionality  of  the  e-auctions  platform  with  the  uploading  of 
photographs  and  valuation  reports,  further  action  is  planned  to 
facilitate compliance with the law and preserve the value of assets. By 
virtue  of 
in  December  2020,  building  permit 
infringements  need  to  be  addressed  within  one  year  of  acquisition  of  a 
property  through  an  e-auction  and  not  later  than  the  end  of  2025.  To 
enable  the  identification  of  such  situations,  the  authorities  are  engaging 
with the association of notaries to ensure interoperability between the e-
auctions  platform  and  the  relevant  platform,  as  monitoring  such 
infringements 
the 
cadastre  platform  and  the  electronic  acquisition  of  data  regarding  the 
energy  efficiency  requirements  and  the  statement  of  no  pending 
obligations  vis-à-vis  the  municipalities  should  be  implemented  as  they 
would be conducive to an increased security of transactions though the e-
auctions platform. 

is  necessary.  Furthermore, 

interoperability  with 

Despite  delays  in  the  preparation  of  the  text  of  the  revised  Code  of 
Civil  Procedure,  the  code  is  expected  to  be  adopted  in  time  for  its 
projected  entry  into  force  by  mid-September  2021.  The  report  of  the 
law-drafting  committee  for  the  evaluation  of  the  implementation  of  the 
Code  and  the  proposed  revisions  is  due  to  be  handed  to  the  Ministry  of 
Justice on 4 June 2021, with a three-month delay. The draft is expected to 
be  finalized  by  mid-June  2021.  The  next  steps  (review  by  the  General 

14 

 
 
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State of play and next steps 

Secretariat  for  Legal  and  Parliamentary  Affairs  and 
the  public 
consultation) will run in parallel and are expected to be concluded by end-
June  2021,  in  view  of  the  adoption  of  the  Code  by  parliament  in  July 
2021.  Despite  the  delay,  the  authorities  confirmed  that  the  revised  code 
will enter into force, as planned, by the start  of the next  judicial  year in 
September 2021. 

The clearance of the considerable backlog of called state guarantees 
has continued to fall behind schedule in the first quarter of 2021 but 
structural changes are now in place for a significant acceleration. The 
delay  in  the  first  quarter  of  2021  was  partly  due  to  continued 
administrative delays in the recruitment process of new personnel as well 
as some unforeseen events caused by the pandemic. However, new staff 
is  in  place  since  early  April  2021  and  undergoing  training,  while  the 
interoperability  of  the  electronic  files  repository  with  tax  offices  is  now 
fully  operational.  Once  the  new  staff  becomes  fully  operational,  a 
significant  acceleration in  the pace of clearance in  the second quarter of 
2021 could be expected. Moreover, the initial target of 17 additional new 
permanent  staff  to  be  hired  during  the  summer  will  be  increased  to  30, 
further speeding up the processing of claims. 

Preparatory  work  on  the  necessary  secondary  legislation  to  ensure 
full  operationalisation  of  the  deferred  tax  credits  framework  in  all 
cases, including resolution, is continuing.  

The  procedure  for  updating  the  statutory  minimum  wage,  put  on 
hold following the outbreak of the pandemic, resumed in March 2021 
and the new level of the minimum wage is expected to be determined 
by end-July 2021. Social and scientific partners were invited to provide 

Labour market:  Greece will safeguard competitiveness  through an 
annual  update  of  the  minimum  wage  in  line  with  the  provisions  of 
Law 4172/2013. 

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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. 

their views as envisaged by the legislation.  

The  tender  for  the  deployment  of  the  relevant  IT  system,  which  is 
critical to support the new investment licencing framework has been 
unblocked,  and  the  final  decision  of  contract  award  was  issued  on 
11 May  2021.  The  project  will  be  implemented  within  34  months 
following the signature of the contract, which is expected shortly. 

The authorities adopted tools and legislation on most remaining parts 
to complete the reform in the three priority areas, whilst the pending 
deliverables  are  expected  by  end-May  2021.  Specifically, 
the 
authorities  adopted  legislation  to  amend  sanctions  and  enforcement 
powers  on  product  and  food  safety,  whilst  the  respective  provisions  for 
environmental  protection  are  expected  to  be  adopted  by  end-May  2021. 
Further,  the  adoption  of  the  enforcement  management  model  on  food 
safety  and environmental  protection, in  addition to  secondary legislation 
to set in force the remaining part of the complaint management model on 
the safety of processed food is also expected by end-May 2021. Further, 
the  authorities  recently  adopted  legislation  to  define  the  roles  and 
responsibilities of inspecting authorities for food safety. 

In parallel,  the authorities are progressing with  the extension of the 
framework in the four remaining areas, albeit slower than expected, 
in  part  due  to  reasons  outside  the  authorities’  control.  Specifically, 
work progresses in the area of consumer protection, with the adoption of 
secondary  legislation  to  introduce  a  risk  assessment  framework  and  the 
complaint  management  model  expected  by  end-May  2021,  as  compared 
to the timeline agreed in the context of the 9th report, i.e. by end-March. 
Conversely, for reasons outside the authorities’ control, work on the area 

16 

 
 
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State of play and next steps 

of  health  and  safety  of  workers,  is  now  delayed  to  end-June  2021,  as 
compared  to  end-March.  Despite  this,  the  commitment  to  finalise 
inspection  legislation  in  the  four  remaining  areas  is  still  expected  by 
end2021. 

included 

Substantial progress is recorded on the simplification of legislation in 
the remaining sectors, nonetheless, some economic activities relating 
to  education  have  not  been 
in  the  scope  of  these 
simplification  initiatives.  Specifically,  the  authorities  recently  adopted 
legislation  to  simplify  activities  in  the  priority  areas  of  transport,  social 
welfare,  physical  well-being,  leasing  of  maritime  leisure  equipment, 
amusement  sector  activities,  and  different  forms  of  tourism.  The 
legislation simplifies the business environment by reducing requirements 
and  the  extent  of  ex-ante  control  currently  imposed  on  businesses.  The 
authorities  have  also  drafted  the  first  of  the  three  batches  of  secondary 
legislation deriving from this law, which is expected to adopted by end-
May  2021,  with  a  minor  delay  compared  with  the  end-April  timeline 
agreed in the context of the 9th report. Further batches are envisaged for 
end-June  and  mid-September  2021,  as  agreed  in  the  context  of  the  9th 
enhanced  surveillance  report.  Further,  the  authorities  recently  submitted 
for  public  consultation  a  new  bill  on  the  reform  of  most  activities  that 
have not been reformed so far. Relevant legislation to simplify  activities 
in  the  area  of  education,  namely  colleges,  private  tutoring,  language 
centres  and  technical  and  vocational  secondary  education,  is  planned  to 
be  adopted  by  September  2021.  Lastly,  with  the  support  of  ongoing 
technical assistance provided by the Commission, the authorities will, by 
the beginning of 2022, develop a legislative framework for the licensing 
of certain activities, namely for non-therapeutic spas and massage centres, 

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

17 

 
 
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State of play and next steps 

artificial tanning units and the storage of boats in land areas. In parallel, 
the simplification of activities relating to ski resorts and tourist ports will 
also  be  examined  with  the  support  of  technical  assistance  by  end-2021, 
whilst a wider reform of these activities has been proposed in the context 
of the Recovery and Resilience Plan. 

There is good progress in the completion of the cadastral surveys. By 
end-2021,  86.5%  of  the  total  property  rights  are  expected  to  be  either 
integrated  in  the  cadastre  or  collected  (declared)  and  in  the  process  of 
being integrated. The level of objections so far is around 2-3%, which is 
within the normal level. 

Transition  from  mortgage  offices  to  cadastral  offices  continues  at  a 
steady pace of two new cadastral offices opening per month (and the 
corresponding  closures  of  mortgage  offices).  As  of  April  2021,  seven 
cadastral offices and 19 sub-offices were open and in operation (28%). In 
terms of property deeds, 15% of the total deeds have been transferred to 
the  cadastral  offices.  In  April  2021,  the  cadastral  office  of  Patras  was 
opened,  serving  the  3rd  biggest  city  with  about  a  million  of  property 
rights.  

The public presentation of forest maps has been completed for 95% 
of  the  country.  About  50%  of  the  country  now  has  ratified  maps.  The 
remaining  maps  will  be  ratified  after  the  regulatory  time  for  filing 
objections  has  elapsed.  The  authorities  have  decided  to  extend  this  time 
by  six  months  due  to  the  pandemic  and  to  address  administrative  and 
legislative hitches. It is expected that about 95% of Greece will have their 
maps ratified in the first quarter of 2022. 

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. 

18 

 
 
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State of play and next steps 

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. 

(*)  Hellenic  Corporation  of  Assets  and  Participations  (HCAP). 
The  Strategic  Plan  of  HCAP  will  be  implemented  on  a  continuous 
basis. 

Following  completion  of  the  market  test,  the  Commission 
is 
discussing with the authorities how to best incorporate the feedback 
provided by market actors into the anti-trust remedy to be finalised 
shortly. The authorities are engaging constructively in this discussion, in 
order to ensure that the final remedy will have the desirable effect. 

The  good  progress  in  the  implementation  of  the  Corporation’s 
strategic plan continued. Notably:  

its  expectations  for 

the  financial  performance  of 

(i) The Corporation has launched the update of its strategic plan. This 
follows the issuance of the updated Ministerial Guidance, which sets out 
the  government’s  general  vision  for  the  Corporation  over  the  medium 
the 
term  and 
Corporation’s  portfolio  of  assets.  It  is  welcome  that  the  authorities 
engaged thoroughly with the European institutions as part of drafting the 
updated  Ministerial  Guidance.  The  additional  focus  of  the  Ministerial 
Guidance  on  market-based  management  and  financial  performance,  as 
well  as  clarifying  the  Corporation’s  responsibility  for  active  asset 
management,  is  also  an  important  step  forward.  Within  this  updated 
framework  the  Corporation  intends  to  increase  its  focus  on  acting  as  an 
active  shareholder.  Preparatory  work 
the 
benchmarking analysis for the subsidiaries and the Corporation to support 
accountability and enable objective commercial targets.  

is  also  underway  for 

(ii)  The  Steering  Committee  envisaged  under  the  Coordination 
Mechanism  has  been  set  up  for  the  Athens  Urban  Transport 
Organisation (OASA). This  will be a further important  step forward in 
clarifying  the  financial  contribution  of  the  State  to  public  policy  costs, 
and  toward  the  Athens  Urban  Transport  Organisation’s  operational 

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improvement,  independence  and  financial  sustainability.  Furthermore, 
discussions  started  on  the  preparation  of  a  performance  contract.  A 
detailed  list  of  special  obligations  to  be  subject  to  the  performance 
contract for the Athens Urban Transport Organisation has been agreed, in 
April, by the Steering Committee.  

(iii)  The  Corporation  proceeded  with  further  work  on  identifying 
legal impediments to the effective, agile and commercial operation of 
state-owned enterprises managed by the Corporation. The elimination 
of these impediments is essential for enabling the state-owned enterprises 
to become operationally and financially independent, and do business in a 
customer-centric  way  and  in  line  with  private  sector  principles.  It  is 
therefore  key  to  the  future  success  of  the  Corporation’s  mission.  A  first 
list  of  impediments  was  compiled  in  April  2021,  whereas  a  more 
comprehensive  one  will  be  prepared  by  endJune  2021.  The  authorities 
have  shown  clear  support  for  this  work,  which  also  complements  the 
authorities’  broader  initiatives  aiming  at  improving  the  operational 
framework  of  state-owned  assets.  It  is  important  that  the  Corporation 
provides input to these broader initiatives where there is an interaction of 
these initiatives with it. The authorities have also engaged from an early 
stage with the institutions on these initiatives, which is very welcome. 

The  authorities  are  also  working  on  modernising  the  institutional 
framework for state-owned enterprises and other public legal entities 
and  are  engaging with  the  European  institutions  to  progress  on  this 
initiative  in  a  collaborative  fashion.  This  work  stream  entails  (i)  the 
codification,  improvement  and  modernisation  of  the  current  legal 
framework  (Law  3429/2005)  on  state–owned  enterprises  and  (ii)  the 
creation  of  a  single  digital  registry  to  capture  information  on  every 

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State of play and next steps 

HCAP.  Complete  the  transfer  of  the  Olympic  Athletic  Centre 
(OAKA) to HCAP. 

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. 

enterprise,  organisation  and  any  other  legal  entity  in  which  the  state 
participates. 

In  mid-February  2021,  following  the  expiry  of  the  term  of  office  of 
the first Board of the Corporation, a new Board assumed office. The 
transition has been smooth and the work of the Corporation continues.  

The  authorities  proceeded  to  the  elaboration,  with  the  assistance  of 
external  consultants,  of  a  master  plan.  The  core  goal  is  to  develop  a 
civic park that provides a high level of amenity to visitors, with sports and 
recreation  facilities  and  to  ensure  the  site’s  financial  sustainability  by 
adding new commercial uses. It will be important that the site will be able 
to  generate  enough  revenue to  comfortably secure its future over a very 
long timeframe. The bulk  of the maintenance and upgrade works should 
be completed before transfer to the Corporation. 

Despite  the  completion  of  the  first  evaluation  and  screening  by  the 
General Secretariat for Tax Policy and Public Property, work is still 
needed for the transfer of the eligible real estate assets to the Public 
Real  Estate  Company.  The  evaluation  and  screening  involved  an 
identification of the large number of assets, their initial categorisation and 
an  issues  analysis.  An  itemised  list  with  the  findings  of  the  screening 
process was given to the European institutions on 30 April 2021. The next 
step will be a validation of the findings by the involved ministries.  

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

With  a  view  to  swiftly  attracting  investment  to  support  a  sustained 

The updated Asset Development Plan was approved by the Board of 
the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund and endorsed by  the 
Government Council for Economic  Policy on 14 May 2021 (FEK B’, 

21 

 
 
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economic  recovery,  complete 
HELPE,  Egnatia,  DEPA 
Alexandroupolis and Kavala, AIA shares, EYDAP and EYATH. 

transactions  on  Hellinikon, 
regional  ports  of 

commercial, 

the 

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

By  mid-2022,  complete  the  transactions  on  a  number  of  other 
regional  ports,  based  on  the  recommendations  of  the  consultants  of 
TAIPED. 

22 

State of play and next steps 

2010/14.05.2021). 

The privatisation proceeds in 2020 amounted to €46.3 million, mainly 
from the financial closing of the transaction on the marina of Alimos 
and the sale of small real estate assets. The initial target of proceeds of 
around  €1  billion  that  was  set  at  the  beginning  of  2020  was  adversely 
affected  by  the  delayed  implementation  of  the  privatisation  programme 
due to the outbreak of the pandemic. 

Progress  with  specific  transactions  since  the  last  report  has  been  as 
follows: 

Hellinikon: The transaction of Hellinikon moves closer towards its final 
stage  for  implementation  following  the  ratification  of  the binding  legal 
document on the partition of the Hellinikon site and the establishment of 
surface rights by the Hellenic Parliament on 24 March 2021. The review 
procedure  of  the  supporting  documents  of  the  selected  investor  for  the 
casino  licence  by  the  Hellenic  Gaming  Commission  was  completed  on 
12 February  2021,  whereas  the  Court  of  Audit  approval  is  expected  in 
June  2021.  Its  ratification  by  the  Parliament  is  expected  thereafter. 
However, two decisions of the Council of State are still pending. In this 
regard, the petition for annulment of the Joint Ministerial Decision for the 
Urbanization Zones of the Integrated Development Plan was rejected on 
2 April  2021,  as  well  as  the  two  petitions  for  annulment  regarding  the 
forestry issue, which were rejected on 14 May 2021. The financial closing 
of the transaction is expected in the coming months. 

Egnatia:  Progress  was  made  over  the  past  two  months  in  the  tender 
process  for  the  long-term  concession  of  Egnatia.  On  1 April  2021  two 

 
 
 
Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

binding  offers  were  submitted.  However, a  third  pre-qualified  bidder 
proceeded  to  taking  legal  actions  (application  for  interim  measures) 
against  the  rejection,  by  the  Board  of  the  Fund,  of  its  request  for  an 
extension  of  the  date  for  the  submission  of  binding  offers.  The  relevant 
Court did not accept the request for the issuance of a provisional order for 
the  suspension  of  the  tender  process  until  the  hearing  of  the  application 
for  interim  measures.  The  above  hearing  was  held  on  10 May  and  the 
application  for  interim  measures  was  rejected.  The  Fund  has  proceeded 
with  the  unsealing  and  review  of  the  technical  offer,  whereas  the 
unsealing of the financial offers is expected in due course. Progress on the 
remaining  pending  actions  has  been limited  and  works  are  behind 
schedule  regarding  both  the  toll  stations  and  licensing  of  the  remaining 
tunnels. A frontal toll station was put in operation in mid-March, whereas 
a  third  cluster  of  8  lateral  toll  stations  have  been  put  in  operation  on 
18 May (six toll stations) and 20 May (2 toll stations). The pending works 
for most of the tunnels were completed by the end of April 2021. 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  was  concluded  on  30 March  2021, 
thus launching the Binding Offers Phase for both transactions.  

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  was  concluded  22 April  2021,  thus  launching 
the Binding Offers Phase for the transaction.  

Regional  port  of  Heraklion:  The  Fund  launched  on  5 April  2021  an 

23 

 
 
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State of play and next steps 

international public tender for the submission of the expression of interest 
for the sale of shares (sale of a majority stake of at least 67%). The tender 
process  will  be  held  in  two  phases:  (a)  submission  of  expressions  of 
interest  and  pre-qualification  of  interested  parties  and  (b)  submission  of 
binding  offers  and  selection  of  the  preferred  investor.  Interested  parties 
are invited to submit their expression of interest on 30 July 2021. 

Public Gas Corporation (DEPA) Infrastructure: The tender process is 
proceeding. Work is being done on the pending issues, which need to be 
resolved  prior  to  the  submission  of  binding  offers.  In  April  2021(i)  an 
agreement  was  reached  between  DEPA  Infrastructure  and  the  private 
investor  (ENI  Gas  e  Luce)  owning  49%  of  the  distribution  system 
operator in Thessaloniki (EDA Thess) on the terms of the transaction for 
the sale of 49% of the distribution system operator in Thessaloniki, which 
will  take  place  upon  completion  of  the DEPA  Infrastructure  tender, 
whereas  (ii)  an  approval  by  Parliament  of  the  required  law  amendments 
that will provide further clarity on the framework for the operation of the 
distribution  system  operators  is  expected  in  the  coming  weeks.  The 
submission of binding offers is scheduled for 15 July 2021. 

Public  Gas  Corporation  (DEPA)  Commercial:  The  Fund  decided  to 
suspend  the  Binding  Offers  Phase  of  the  tender  at  least  until  September 
2021, so as to have more clarity on the outcome of pending issues.  

Underground Natural Gas Storage (South Kavala: Assessment of the 
investors’ Expressions of Interest and the short listing of the prequalified 
parties  for  the  Binding  Offers  Phase  was  concluded  on  30 March  2021, 
thus  launching  the  Binding  Offers  Phase.  The  Regulatory  Authority  for 
Energy  is  expected  to  issue  a  decision  providing  clarity  on  the  tariff-

24 

 
 
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State of play and next steps 

setting framework in the coming weeks. 

As  reported  in  the  previous  enhanced  surveillance  reports,  some 
transactions  had  to  be  delayed  following  a  significant  fall  in  the 
assets’ capitalisation value or the impact of the pandemic on the level 
of economic activity. This applies to the Hellenic Petroleum and the sale 
of 30% of Athens International Airport.  

Following  the  completion  of  the  digital  organigrams  for  general 
government entities, the authorities have made further progress and 
established a link between the job description and jobholder for more 
than 60% of all posts. If the so called ‘non-defined posts’ (i.e. posts that 
are  yet  to  be  characterised  as  ‘occupied’,  ‘vacant’  or  ‘on  hold’)  are 
removed then the link has been established for 83.6% and is expected to 
reach 100% by August  2021. Completion of this important exercise will 
facilitate the management of human resources in the public administration 
through  interconnecting  the  records  on  each  jobholder  collected  by  the 
census  of  public  officials,  the  Single  Payment  Authority  and  the  human 
resources  department.  Job  descriptions  for  all  posts  are  planned  to  be 
completed by end-2021, which would complete this specific commitment. 
Finally, the appointment process for the Permanent Secretary post at the 
Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, which has seen some delays, 
is expected to be completed by July 2021. 

The  process  of  labour  law  codification  is  affected  by  the  delay  in 
adopting  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 
committee  coordinating  the  authorities’  efforts  to  codify  all  laws  has 

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

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. 

25 

 
 
Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

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). 

confirmed  that  it  would  proceed  with  the  labour  law  codification  as  a 
matter of priority following the adoption of the new labour law. The draft 
law  was  put  in  public  consultation  on  13 May  and  is  planned  to  be 
submitted to Parliament during the first week of June 2021. 

in  civil  courts,  the 
Regarding  the  implementation  of  e-filing 
authorities  submitted  a  note  on  the  state  of  play  but  are  yet  to 
develop  an  action  plan  with  a  timetable  to  the  completion  of  the 
project.  According  to  the  authorities,  its  elaboration  will  depend  on  the 
progress of the second phase of the case management project (‘OSDDY-
PP’). 

the 

implementation 

of  mandatory 

in 
Regarding 
administrative  courts,  work  is  ongoing  on  the  implementation  of 
infrastructure  enhancements  and  the  interoperability  between  the 
respective  IT  systems  of  the  courts  and  the  administration.  The 
President of the Council of State is expected to confirm the good standing 
of  the  system  in  June,  so  that  the  mandatory  filing,  covering  initial 
submissions,  memoranda  and  the submissions  of administrative files, be 
implemented as of September 2021.  

e-filing 

The  distribution  of  digital  signatures  to  judges  and  courts’  clerical 
staff  is  nearing  completion,  with  9 000  signatures  (out  of  11 000) 
already  distributed.  Moreover,  according  to  the  authorities,  the  Athens 
Bar  Association  confirmed  that  20 000  lawyers  (out  of  a  maximum 
40 000  of  registered  bar  associations’  members)  have  already  received 
digital  signatures,  of  which  approximately  12 000  were  handed  out  to 
lawyers in the Athens metropolitan area. The demand for the issuance of 
signatures  remains  strong  among  lawyers.  As  for  notaries,  they  will 

26 

 
 
Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

shortly  receive  digital  signatures  from  the  public  sector.  Moreover,  all 
members of judicial bailiffs associations across the country have already 
been issued with state of the art digital signatures. 

Authorities reported some progress in the preparation of the launch 
of  the  call  for  bids  for  the  integrated  case  management  system 
(‘OSDDY-PP’(.  The  authorities  are  in  the  process  of  concluding  a 
Memorandum  of Understanding between the Ministry of Justice and the 
Society  of  Information  Society  of  Information  (the  procurement 
authority). The latter is expected to finalize the draft Request for Proposal 
by mid-June 2021 and submit it to public consultation by end-June 2021; 
the  scope  of  the  project  will  be  broadened,  with  the  call  for  tenders 
expected  to  be  published  in  the  third  quarter  of  2021;  the  contract  is 
expected to be awarded in the first quarter of 2022. 

An  ambitious  project  for  the  replacement  of  several  certificates 
related  to  the  solvency  status  of businesses  by a  single  one  has been 
completed and progress was also  made in the digitization of divorce 
proceedings.  On  7 April,  the  Ministry  of  Justice  announced  the 
completion of the project for the electronic issuance of the solvency status 
certificate,  which  replaces  twenty  five  different  certificates  which  were 
being  separately 
issued  hitherto.  Court  secretariats  are  currently 
proceeding with appropriately adjusting their IT systems, with the bigger 
ones  (Athens,  Piraeus,  Thessaloniki)  having  already  implemented  the 
adjustments.  Regarding  the  implementation  of  the  e-divorce  procedure, 
the  necessary  amendments  to  the  Civil  Code  have  been  adopted (6).  In 

(6) Law 4800/2021 (OJ A 81/21.05.2021). 

27 

 
 
                                                 
Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

Fight  against  corruption. 
addressed by the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO). 

Implement  all 

recommendations 

28 

parallel,  the  authorities  have  completed  the  drafting  of  the  necessary 
secondary legislation (a joint ministerial decision), which will be formally 
adopted  once  the  Civil  Code  amendments  are  published  in  the  Official 
Journal.  

The  authorities  have  put  forward  relevant  measures  to  address  the 
remaining  GRECO  recommendations  and  established  a  timeline  to 
complete  the  specific  commitment.  The  authorities  provided  an 
indicative  roadmap  that  contains  the  measures  envisaged  to  implement 
the following  recommendations, which are still pending  from  GRECO’s 
fourth evaluation round. The recommended actions will be completed as 
follows:  (i)  enhancing  the  processes  for  selection  for  senior  positions  of 
judges  and  prosecutors,  and  for  disciplinary  proceedings:  by  end-2021; 
(ii) providing guarantees against judicial delays, and improving caseload 
management  and  functioning  of  courts  (including  public  reports):  by 
April 2022; (iii) setting clear standards for conduct and integrity of judges 
and  prosecutors,  and  developing  relevant  training:  by  end-2021;  (iv) 
revising  the  Criminal  Code  and  the  Criminal  Procedure  Code  to  tackle 
issues  concerning  bribery  of  public  officials:  by  end-2021.  Measures  to 
address  the  aforementioned  recommendations  include,  among  others, 
legislative 
systems  and 
initiatives,  deployment  of 
amendments in Codes, Charters and internal processes.  

information 

initiatives 
Progress  has  been  observed  with  other 
concerning  the  fight  against  corruption,  notably  the  long-awaited 
improvements to the asset declaration process. The internal evaluation 
of the National  Anti-Corruption Plan for 2018-2021 has been concluded 
and  its  output  will  be  integrated  in  the  new  2022-2025  Plan,  while  the 
external  evaluation  is  expected  for  mid-2021.  As  concerns  asset 

important 

 
 
Commitment 

State of play and next steps 

declarations,  a  joint  decision  by  the  Parliament  and  the  Ministry  of 
Finance  was  adopted  to  determine  the  persons  that  are  considered 
politically  exposed,  and  the  relevant  list  is  aligned  to  the  list  of  persons 
obliged  to  submit  asset  declarations  in  the  political  field.  Further,  the 
National  Transparency  Authority  has  concluded  the  remaining  asset 
declaration  audits  for  years  2016-2019,  and  has  acquired  access  to  the 
taxpayers’ registry database, which is expected to reinforce its operational 
capacity.  Regarding  financing  of  political  parties,  audits  for  year  2018 
resulted in fines that were deducted from the state funding provided to the 
relevant political parties, while audits for  year 2019 are to be concluded 
by  the  end  of  2021.  Moreover,  there  has  been  some  progress  with  the 
legal codification of the parties financing law that is anticipated to come 
into  force  in  the  third  quarter  of  2021.  Finally,  the  lobbying  law  is 
planned to be introduced to the Parliament in the fourth quarter of 2021. 

Complementary commitments undertaken by Greek authorities in May 2020  

Complementary commitment 

State of play and next steps 

improvements 

Better  regulation.  Achieve 
the  regulatory 
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 
business, paying taxes, and trading across borders by mid-2021. 

in 

The  authorities  completed  interventions  aiming,  among  others,  to 
reduce  the  time  for  private  companies  to  become  operational  and  to 
rationalise  requirements  for  connecting  to  electricity.  The  authorities 
also  elaborated  intervention  plans  to  be  implemented  over  the  mid-term, 
including  legislative  actions,  technological  interventions,  training  and 
communication.  These  measures  aim  at  improving  the  process  for 
registering property, mainly through the deployment of digital tools, such 
as  an  e-platform  for  transferring  property  and  an  e-platform  for  the 

29 

 
 
 
Complementary commitment 

State of play and next steps 

interoperate  with 

transactions  of  notaries,  which  will  also 
tax 
administration  systems  for  tax  purposes.  The  authorities  also  aim  to 
further expedite the construction permit process through the extension of 
the  interoperability  of  the  ‘e-adeies’  system  for  building  permits  with 
several other services, the implementation of a risk-based approach in fire 
safety  inspections  involving  private  sector  expertise,  in  addition  to 
organising  public  outreach  campaigns  to  professionals  to  ensure  correct 
implementation of the new processes. Moreover, further simplification of 
requirements  is  envisaged  to  improve  the  process  for  obtaining  an 
electricity  connection,  backed  by  the  adoption  of  necessary  secondary 
legislation. Lastly, in the area of improving access to credit, plans include 
the introduction of a framework on movable property transactions, and the 
the 
creation  of  public  credit  bureau 
creditworthiness of debtors. 

information  on 

to  provide 

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. 

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. 

The authorities have confirmed that, following the public consultation 
process that started on 13 May and will last until 27 May, the Labour 
Reform  law  would  be  tabled  in  Parliament  during  the  first  week  of 
June 2021 with a view to being adopted within the same month. The 
European institutions were consulted on the draft law.  

Preparations for the creation of special chambers in three out of four 
major courts of Greece are progressing well. Following the Athens and 
Thessaloniki  courts  of  appeal,  the  Thessaloniki  court  of  first  instance 
amended  its  internal  regulation  to  allow  for  the  creation  of  special 
chambers. The amended regulations have been submitted to the Supreme 
Court for approval; once approved, they will be published in the Official 
Journal  and  will  enter  into  force.  In  contrast,  the  Athens  court  of  first 

30 

 
 
Complementary commitment 

State of play and next steps 

instance  has  not  yet  convened  a  plenary  session  to  adopt  the  relevant 
amendments to its internal regulation and no timetable was communicated 
in  this  respect  by  the  authorities.  Regarding  the  creation  of  special 
chambers  in  administrative  courts,  no  action  is  contemplated  at  present, 
given  that  the  model  special  chambers  for  the  adjudication  of  tax  cases 
had already been set up prior to the adoption of the relevant legislation (7). 

While  the  Code  of  Judicial  Staff  was  adopted  on  23 April  2021 (8), 
work is ongoing on the Code for the Organization of Justice and the 
Status of Officers of the Courts. The revised draft code is expected to be 
handed  in  by  the  law-drafting  group  by  end-June  2021  and,  after 
processing  by  the  Ministry  of  Justice,  to  be  submitted  to  the  plenary 
formations of the supreme courts for review by end-July 2021. Following 
public consultation in November 2021, the code is planned to be adopted 
by Parliament by December 2021 and enter into force upon publication in 
the Official Journal, with the possible exception of a number of transitory 
provisions, which may call for a deferred date of entry into force. 

The  authorities  reported  progress  regarding  the  adoption  of 
secondary  legislation  for  the  ‘JustStat’  unit,  which  is  a  prerequisite 
for the launch of the call for bids. The Ministry of Justice submitted the 
necessary draft legislation (presidential decree) to the Ministry of Digital 
Policy;  once  the  text  is  finalized,  it  will  be  submitted  to  the  Council  of 
State  for  the  constitutionality  scrutiny;  the  authorities  confirmed  that 
adoption will follow in June 2021. In parallel, work is being conducted on 

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 
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. 

7  Article 360 of law 4700/2020 (OJ 127 A/29.6.2020). 
8  Law 4798/2021 (OJ A 68/24.04.2021). 

31 

 
 
                                                 
Complementary commitment 

State of play and next steps 

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.  

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. 

32 

setting up a web server for the collection of judicial statistics. The tender 
for the procurement of  IT infrastructure (mainly software) is  expected to 
be launched by end-June 2021. 

Following  the  adoption  of  a  law  aiming  to  strengthen  the  Personnel 
Selection  Council, the  authorities have set out an action  plan on key 
steps  to  be  taken  to  ensure  full  and  timely  implementation  of  the 
adopted law. The action plan, which is being prepared through technical 
support provided by the European Commission, covers a number of areas, 
including  the  organisational  transformation  of  Council  and  the  new 
selection system for civil servants. 

The  authorities  have  made  progress  with  the  work  necessary  for 
setting  the  ceiling  on  the  recruitment  of  temporary  staff  that  will 
come into effect as of 2022, while the temporary staff category will see 
a  significant  overall  reduction  by  October  2021  and  once  ongoing 
hiring  procedures  converting  temporary  posts  into  permanent  ones 
are  completed.  The  authorities  have  committed  to  carry  out  an 
assessment by August 2021 of the largest temporary staff group not falling 
under  a  specific  category  of  civil  servants  (e.g.  seasonal,  temporary), 
which  constitutes  approximately  70%  of  all  temporary  staff  (around 
65 000).  Thereafter,  a  Joint  Ministerial  Decision  will  be  adopted  by 
October 2021, setting a ceiling on the recruitment of temporary staff as of 
2022.  Finally,  the  soon  to  be  completed  selection  procedures  for  10 500 
teachers  on  permanent  posts  will  result  in  a  corresponding  reduction  of 
temporary staff as of October 2021. 

As  part  of  the  efforts  to  strengthen  central  control  of  human 
resources  management,  the  authorities  are  advancing  on  listing  all 

 
 
Complementary commitment 

State of play and next steps 

past deviations from standard hiring procedures and the unified wage 
grid.  First,  on  hiring  procedures,  a  legal  provision  is  planned  to  be 
adopted  by  June  2021  that  will  address  identified  deviations,  mainly 
concerning  the  mobility  scheme.  Secondly,  following  finalisation  by 
November 2021 of a list of deviations from the unified wage grid covering 
the  period  from  2016  until  today,  legal  provision(s)  addressing  these 
deviations in a systematic manner to follow by first quarter of 2022. 

Revision  of  the  methodology  for  the  allowance  for  hazardous  and 
arduous work will require further extension. The new extension is until 
August, following which the required legislation is planned to be in place 
by the end of this year. 

The  new  law  on  sustainable  urban  mobility  plans  was  adopted  on 
16 March  2021,  successfully  completing  this  commitment.  The  new 
law includes transitional provisions, which allow the approval of the plans 
that were already produced under the previous law but have not yet been 
approved. In total twenty municipalities have produced draft plans, several 
of  which  concern  cities  of  medium  size.  They  are  mandatory  for  cities 
over  30 000  inhabitants.  These  will  be  finalised  and  approved  by  June 
2021. 

An  agreement  has  been  reached  by  the  working  group  on  the  scope 
and  timeline  of  the  study.  The  working  group  was  set  up  in  January, 
composed  of  representatives  of  the  Ministry  of  Finance,  the  Hellenic 
Corporation  of  Assets  and  Participations,  its  subsidiary  the  Public  Real 
Estate Company  and university  professors. The objective of the  working 
group was to determine the scope and timeline of the study aiming at the 
elaboration of a holistic and coherent strategy to optimise the functioning 

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

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. 

33 

 
 
Complementary commitment 

State of play and next steps 

of the Greek real estate market. The agreed scope of the study includes the 
identification  of  international  best  practices  and  mapping  of  current 
situation / gaps, sustainable development of the public property and areas 
for  reform  of  the  framework  for  the  development  of  public  real  estate 
assets. The first phase of the tender process is expected by the end of May 
2021. 

The  establishment  of  a  Strategic  Project  Pipeline  will  facilitate 
planning and implementation of public investment projects, especially 
for the Recovery and Resilience Facility.  Draft legislative amendments 
for  its  establishment  have  been  prepared  and  adopted  by  Parliament  by 
Law  4799  (FEK  A’,  78/18.05.2021).  The  projects  to  be  included  in  the 
Pipeline will be assessed and approved by the Government Committee for 
Contracts  of  Strategic  Importance  upon  a  recommendation  of  the 
Programming and Design Committee consisting of secretary generals. 

Draft legislative amendments that will add the mandate of the Project 
Preparation  Facility  to  the  Hellenic  Republic  Asset  Development 
Fund  have  been  prepared  and  are  expected  to  be  adopted  by 
Parliament  in  early  June.  It  is  intended  that  Facility  will  inter  alia 
prepare  strategic  projects  both  for  the  Recovery  and  Resilience  Facility 
and for EU structural funds and pre-financing of the preparation funds will 
be  arranged  from  both  sources.  The  legislative  amendments  ensure  that 
appropriate  safeguards  will  be  in  place  so  that  the  Fund  can  continue  to 
independently  exercise 
legislative 
amendments  also  provide  the  new  corporate  governance  structure  of  the 
Fund  and  ensure  the  role  of  the  Hellenic  Corporation  of  Assets  and 
the  corporate 
Participations  as 
governance  issues.  The  timely  set-up  of  Project  Preparation  Facility  will 

its  existing  core  mandate.  The 

its  sole  shareholder 

to  supervise 

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 

Project  preparation  facility.  Develop  and  fully  operationalize  an 
improved  support  and  delivery  mechanism  for  project  preparation 
and  implementation  to  ensure  efficiency  and  quality  of  both  public 
sector infrastructure projects as well as Public Private Partnerships by 
March 2021. 

34 

 
 
Complementary commitment 

State of play and next steps 

speed  up  the  delivery  of  Recovery  and  Resilience  Facility  projects  and 
other public investment projects. Recruitment of staff for the new Facility 
is underway and the staffing of the core team is expected to be completed 
by end-June/July 2021. The preparation of the tenders for the framework 
contracts for legal, technical and financial consultants are at an advanced 
stage.  The  tender  process  for  the  framework  contracts  is  expected  to  be 
launched  shortly  after  the  approval  in  Parliament  of  the  legislative 
amendments. 

The  authorities  adopted  in  March  2021  a  new  law  to  overhaul  and 
address major weaknesses of the public procurement framework and 
are  currently  working  on  its  full  operationalisation.  Work  on  the 
issuance  of  secondary  legislation  acts,  which  had  been  identified  as 
critical  for  the  operationalisation  of  the  framework  progresses,  with  the 
first out of the three batches of relevant joint ministerial decisions drafted. 
Their adoption is expected by end-May 2021, broadly in line with the end-
April timeline agreed in the context of the 9th report. The authorities plan 
to  set  timelines  for  implementation  also  for  the  remaining  secondary 
legislation  deriving  from 
law  by  end-June  2021.  The  full 
operationalisation of the Central Purchasing Authorities, including the one 
under the Ministry of Infrastructure which is expected by end-September 
2021, is a precondition for the effectiveness of the new system. 

the 

A  new  public  procurement  strategy  for  20212025  is  expected  to  be 
adopted by end-May 2021, broadly in line with the end-April timeline 
agreed  in  the  context  of  the  9th  report.  It  is  expected  to  support  the 
green  and  digital  transition  and  strengthen  the  fight  against  corruption. 
According  to  the  updated  draft  shared  by  the  authorities,  key  elements 
include the improvement and upgrade of public procurement systems and 

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

35 

 
 
Complementary commitment 

State of play and next steps 

tools,  actions  to  ensure  effective  governance  and  measurement  of 
performance, and promote key initiatives such as green procurement and 
procurement  to  encourage  innovation.  Following  its  adoption,  the 
authorities  will  adopt  secondary  legislation  to  set  up  the  necessary 
structures to oversee its implementation.  

The authorities have proposed this measure in Greece’s Recovery and 
Resilience Plan. The technical specifications to update the medical record 
with the results of laboratory tests have been completed and will be tested 
in July 2021. 

The authorities have proposed this measure in Greece’s Recovery and 
Resilience Plan. 

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

E-Health.  Extend  the  application  of  the  electronic  prescription 
project (2nd phase), including through therapeutic protocols, back-end 
integrations,  artificial 
inquiries,  necessary 
intelligence  driven 
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. 

The authorities have proposed this measure in Greece’s Recovery and 
Resilience Plan. 

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. 

The authorities have proposed this measure in Greece’s Recovery and 
Resilience Plan. 

Education.  Enhance 

the  autonomy  of  higher  education  by  Following several major reforms of the higher education sector in the 

36 

 
 
 
 
 
Complementary commitment 

State of play and next steps 

strengthening  the  accountability  and  transparency  framework  and 
through the introduction of the University Council 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 

past months, further steps will be undertaken by end-2021, somewhat 
later than initially  envisaged.  The already  adopted reforms  concern the 
funding  of  the  universities,  where  public  funding  will  partly  depend  on 
performance  criteria,  a  new  law  on  safety  and  security  of  university 
premises, a new system for admission to universities that will result in  a 
reduction  of  the  number  of  students  and  a  better  connection  of  the 
provided degrees with labour market. More students will be channelled to 
professional education. A further bill is planned in the near future that will 
enhance  the  autonomy  of  the  higher  education  institutions,  by  allowing 
them  to  create  and  terminate  education  programmes  and  will  strengthen 
the  technological  education  with  emphasis  on  the  needs  of  the  labour 
market.  This  bill  will  also  include  a  revision  of  the  system  of  university 
governance, by re-introducing the separation between the management of 
the universities and the governing board. This bill has been postponed due 
to  other  priorities  that  took  precedence  and  to  the  pandemic  and  is 
expected to be adopted by December 2021. 

School  education  has  faced 
important  challenges  due  to  the 
coronavirus pandemic, with schools being closed most of the time and 
education being delivered on-line. This has made the implementation of 
the school evaluations more difficult. The design of 123 new curricula is 
progressing  and  they  will  be  experimentally  applied  in  the  model  and 
experimental schools (around 100 schools) in the academic year 2021-22 
before  being  more  widely  adopted.  Regarding  teacher  evaluation,  the 
relevant bill is expected to be presented to the Cabinet in May 2021, and 
will be adopted in July 2021 and applied in the academic year 2021-22. 

E-governance. Develop the single digital portal (gov.gr) to integrate 
all  electronic  transactions  for  citizens  and  businesses  with  the  state 

The  digital  accessibility  of  public  services  is  being  continually 
enhanced,  in  parallel  with  the  ongoing  adoption  of  secondary 

37 

 
 
Complementary commitment 

State of play and next steps 

and related information, unify the legal framework on digital policy, 
and  safeguard  business  continuity  by  ensuring  sufficiency  of  digital 
infrastructure mid-2021. 

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. 

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legislation  to  operationalise  the  new  legal  framework  on  digital 
governance.  The authorities are on track with  the implementation  of the 
single digital portal, which now features more than 1 150 digital services, 
including  some  new  social  security  and  employment  services.  Notable 
achievements  include  the  completion  of  the  first  phase  of  citizens’ 
accounts  i.e.  a  personalized  service  for  the  storage  of  citizens’  personal 
data, from which citizens can retrieve documents digitally (e.g. following 
an application to  a public service), the launch of a mobile  application to 
provide  information  on  available  services,  and  further  extending  gov.gr 
interoperability  with  citizens’  service  centres.  To  date,  citizens  can  book 
online appointments to obtain assistance with more than 65 services and, 
according to the authorities, more than 40 000 citizens’ requests have been 
serviced  in  this  way  without  physical  interaction  with  staff  at  citizens’ 
service centres. Further,  the authorities are drafting secondary legislation 
deriving from the new Digital Code. Despite some delay as compared to 
the timeline agreed in the context of the 9th report, five legislative acts are 
finalised and pending for adoption, and further ten acts are expected to be 
finalised shortly.  

Work  on  process  simplification  and  digitalisation  progresses.  Key 
steps  include  the  enactment  of  the  electronic  circulation  of  expenditure 
documents  within  the  central  administration,  the  simplification  and 
digitalisation  of 
the 
consolidation  of  court  certificates  related  to  businesses.  Further,  the 
simplification  of  tourism-related  processes  was  added  to  the  short-term 
work plan, whilst the authorities aim to provide a full year action plan by 
end-June.  Despite  some  delay,  some  450  services  are  recorded  in  the 
newly created national registry of procedures to facilitate the standardised 

the  process  for  citizenship  application,  and 

 
 
Complementary commitment 

State of play and next steps 

and  transparent  execution  of  services  across  regional  offices,  which  is 
expected  to  go  live  shortly.  The  authorities  expect  to  fully  complete  this 
registry  by  end-2021.  The  completion  of  a  ‘master  interoperability 
registry’ to unify citizens’ records is now expected by end-October 2021 
(as  opposed  to  end-April).  Nevertheless,  a  number  of  transactions  are 
already  conducted  with  the  burden  on  citizens’  identification  borne 
internally  by  combining  data  from  various  sources,  and  not  by  citizens 
themselves,  including  enrolment  in  the  national  covid-19  vaccination 
programme. 

The  tender  process  has  been  halted  as  a  result  of  an  appeal  that 
remains  pending.  Following  the  conclusion  of  the  appeal  review,  and 
subject to the outcome of this, the tender will resume with the evaluation 
of financial offers, which is the next step of the process.  

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

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