In one of the motivational posters I read "you are not where you come from, you are where you're going to...".
Which, snazzy though it may be, raises a fundamental question: do I know where I am going to?
One may argue, of course, that NOT knowing is, in and of itself, a kind of direction to whit, the pursuit of direction.
I wonder how many of us actually do know where they are going -- or do we simply settle for a vague idea, based on what we have around us.
Do we want to know everything about the future?
Or, maybe, "where we are going to" is the journey to know oneself.
If so, all it takes is to reflect upon oneself, to discover, see, accept and move on. The more we know ourselves, the more we know where we are going to? Or, the more we know ourselves, the less important is the goal of defining a specific destination...
Tuesday, 19 May 2015
Wednesday, 13 May 2015
Which European Country Has No Guaranteed Minimum Income?
You guessed it: Greece.
Despite the endless (& reckless) spending, Greece's governments have ignored the issue -- nay, Greece's present "left-wing humanistic" government has swepted it off the table.
Indeed, Greece's Syriza party politicians effectively placed the matter in the circular file; for good, they hope.
A minister called Fotiou, even went so far as to call it "a poverty trap".
Indeed.
Ms Fotiou she does not need the aid, obviously; with a purported monthly income of EUR ~12k to spend, falling into the "minimum income" for her is a giant step backwards.
For a party that uses "humanistic crisis" as an argument in favour of "money for nothing" in its dealings with the troika (reps of Greece's lenders), it could be astonishing.
It ceases to astonish when one realises that the present party not only could not care less about Greece's poor, it also visibly doesn't bother with the future starving population: long-term unemployed,self-employed out of jobs, etc.
In this light, the fact that 25% of Greece's unemployed also do not have any medical cover probably makes the present ruling party members rejoice.
Despite the endless (& reckless) spending, Greece's governments have ignored the issue -- nay, Greece's present "left-wing humanistic" government has swepted it off the table.
Indeed, Greece's Syriza party politicians effectively placed the matter in the circular file; for good, they hope.
 |
| GREECE'S GOVERNMENT VIEW OF THE COUNTRY'S POOR & UNEMPLOYED |
Indeed.
Ms Fotiou she does not need the aid, obviously; with a purported monthly income of EUR ~12k to spend, falling into the "minimum income" for her is a giant step backwards.
For a party that uses "humanistic crisis" as an argument in favour of "money for nothing" in its dealings with the troika (reps of Greece's lenders), it could be astonishing.
It ceases to astonish when one realises that the present party not only could not care less about Greece's poor, it also visibly doesn't bother with the future starving population: long-term unemployed,self-employed out of jobs, etc.
In this light, the fact that 25% of Greece's unemployed also do not have any medical cover probably makes the present ruling party members rejoice.
Friday, 8 May 2015
Paradoxical Collective Behaviour of Greeks Today -- or Why My Dutch Friend Was Wrong
...He rarely is.
Also he is most polite and reserved and rarely judgemental.
What are three strange traits that may confuse us if we travel or live in Greece today.
I don't mean, voting a not-so-complimentary-for-the-country, party to power (rude with a predilection of doing anything that goes against the grain -- any grain, to the extent of proposing to free from prison a serial killer, for "humanitarian reasons" etc)
A) being rude = being assertive
B) being antisocial & unhelpful = being free
Example: a bunch of trouble-makers are allowed to demonstrate to the detriment of the community, block the highway, or forbid entry to cruise-ships; the community, the country as a whole suffers. Likewise,
C) being polite to a stranger = servility
What else can one say other than, offer Greece group therapy and send them the bill (because psychoanalysis needs commitment).
Also he is most polite and reserved and rarely judgemental.
What are three strange traits that may confuse us if we travel or live in Greece today.
I don't mean, voting a not-so-complimentary-for-the-country, party to power (rude with a predilection of doing anything that goes against the grain -- any grain, to the extent of proposing to free from prison a serial killer, for "humanitarian reasons" etc)
A) being rude = being assertive
B) being antisocial & unhelpful = being free
Example: a bunch of trouble-makers are allowed to demonstrate to the detriment of the community, block the highway, or forbid entry to cruise-ships; the community, the country as a whole suffers. Likewise,
C) being polite to a stranger = servility
What else can one say other than, offer Greece group therapy and send them the bill (because psychoanalysis needs commitment).
Tuesday, 5 May 2015
Sullen, Disgruntled and Resentful
... is how a Dutch person living in Greece described the country's ruling party's so called "extreme left-wing" politicians.
Like typical bullies,indignant because they have not had their way; "just imagine" he said, "imagine you give the bullies the power and the responsibilities of the school principal"! This is surely how they wil behave."
He proffered the example of the minister for education who publicly stated that the pursuit of excellence (and progress) is a sickness. Again, in the same ministry, the minister appointed new regional educational supervisors, all from the party (syriza). Other ministers declare "... we will tear Europe to bits..." and "jihad is not to be excluded if they (european partners) do not do what we want...".
If this is really the case, and Greece's ruling people are a pack of disgruntled, self-serving bullies, Greece is in urgent need of a few very dynamic parents who can bring these bullies to order.
Or the will sink the ship further, beyond salvation.
Like typical bullies,indignant because they have not had their way; "just imagine" he said, "imagine you give the bullies the power and the responsibilities of the school principal"! This is surely how they wil behave."
He proffered the example of the minister for education who publicly stated that the pursuit of excellence (and progress) is a sickness. Again, in the same ministry, the minister appointed new regional educational supervisors, all from the party (syriza). Other ministers declare "... we will tear Europe to bits..." and "jihad is not to be excluded if they (european partners) do not do what we want...".
If this is really the case, and Greece's ruling people are a pack of disgruntled, self-serving bullies, Greece is in urgent need of a few very dynamic parents who can bring these bullies to order.
Or the will sink the ship further, beyond salvation.
Thursday, 23 April 2015
The Rule of Equality and the Iniquity of Identity
Identity in its archetypal meaning of identical.
When the US constitution famously declared "all men are created equal" it did not mean that all people are identical socially, economically, and on terms of skills, capabilities, and so on.
When Pericles mentioned in his funeral oration mentioned that the laws afford equal justice to all and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that, "all are equal before the law and are entitled to (...) equal protection of the law, both did mean that before the law, all should be seen as being identical:
i.e., being entitled to identical protection under the law as well as impartiality rather than a double standard.
So, basically, we are saying that "we all have a right to the better deal, if that deal is a legal deal under applicable law" and "if that is the deal I want to be entitled to that deal, no less"
IF, however, by equality we mean identity, we run the risk of giving birth to a travesty of the fundamental rule that "all are created equal". It "all are identical".
Differences between individuals, where they do exist, should not be taken into account when individuals are under consideration. All must be seen as "identical".
If all are taken to be identical, then no-one should recognised as being "better" or "worse" than another in any capacity. Accordingly, selection made to pre-set criteria is a distortion of equality and should be abolished.
Take productivity for example; if criteria are to be abolished the measure of productivity is insignificant.
Take the performance criterion, for another example; since we do not accept that individuals are inherently different, differences in performance should not be considered. The much touted "pursuit of excellence" is admonished.
In extremis, it would seem that if we were to expect identical performance from all, then the lowest common denominator, i.e. the lowest standard, should be the inevitable goal: the performance level shared by all human beings is indubitably the lowest level.
Fortunately, the confusion of equality=identity is not implemented in any country for any number of reasons, all fortunate. Were it not so, it would lead to absurdity and inhumanity of epic proportions and this absurdity is understood.
However, the confusion of equality=identity still does inspire tragic results even today, even in our western, meritocratic societies.
In one European country recently, the ministry of education abolished experimental schools operating under a student selection and performance scheme, arguing that such practise (the pursuit of performance) promoted inequality between student and was thereby oppressive and unacceptable. In other words and in the name of equality, the institution protecting and promoting the country's standard of education, lowered the standard of learning the in the country!
Presumably, all applicants to the country's institutions should be allowed in and all students should be allowed to graduate. Pushing it further, all students should graduate with the same grade. Official recognition of differences between the students (i.e,. grades, not graduating, etc) would be a sign of condoning inequality. No doubt, all students should also get the same mark as the best performing student -- or as the least performing student, if we do not wish to make the lowest performer feel left out...
Meritocracy becomes the rule of the lowest standard.
This is not the place not time to discuss the advantages or otherwise of the former. But we can certainly all agree to lament the latter.
Or can we??
*In teh mid 70s, in another European country then part of the Soviet bloc, 6 naval engineers were applying for a job at the Ministry of Labour. They were duly affected to "copying duties" at the Ministry of Justice (i.e. preparing photocopies for the various departments). There were numerous positions at the Ministry of Transport and Industry as well, but the educational background was not deemed binding (inequality) and the timing was not quite there.... the positions at the other Ministries were to open after summer holidays. Hey, at least they had jobs, for a while...
When the US constitution famously declared "all men are created equal" it did not mean that all people are identical socially, economically, and on terms of skills, capabilities, and so on.
When Pericles mentioned in his funeral oration mentioned that the laws afford equal justice to all and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that, "all are equal before the law and are entitled to (...) equal protection of the law, both did mean that before the law, all should be seen as being identical:
i.e., being entitled to identical protection under the law as well as impartiality rather than a double standard.
So, basically, we are saying that "we all have a right to the better deal, if that deal is a legal deal under applicable law" and "if that is the deal I want to be entitled to that deal, no less"
IF, however, by equality we mean identity, we run the risk of giving birth to a travesty of the fundamental rule that "all are created equal". It "all are identical".
Differences between individuals, where they do exist, should not be taken into account when individuals are under consideration. All must be seen as "identical".
If all are taken to be identical, then no-one should recognised as being "better" or "worse" than another in any capacity. Accordingly, selection made to pre-set criteria is a distortion of equality and should be abolished.
Take productivity for example; if criteria are to be abolished the measure of productivity is insignificant.
Take the performance criterion, for another example; since we do not accept that individuals are inherently different, differences in performance should not be considered. The much touted "pursuit of excellence" is admonished.
In extremis, it would seem that if we were to expect identical performance from all, then the lowest common denominator, i.e. the lowest standard, should be the inevitable goal: the performance level shared by all human beings is indubitably the lowest level.
Fortunately, the confusion of equality=identity is not implemented in any country for any number of reasons, all fortunate. Were it not so, it would lead to absurdity and inhumanity of epic proportions and this absurdity is understood.
However, the confusion of equality=identity still does inspire tragic results even today, even in our western, meritocratic societies.
In one European country recently, the ministry of education abolished experimental schools operating under a student selection and performance scheme, arguing that such practise (the pursuit of performance) promoted inequality between student and was thereby oppressive and unacceptable. In other words and in the name of equality, the institution protecting and promoting the country's standard of education, lowered the standard of learning the in the country!
Presumably, all applicants to the country's institutions should be allowed in and all students should be allowed to graduate. Pushing it further, all students should graduate with the same grade. Official recognition of differences between the students (i.e,. grades, not graduating, etc) would be a sign of condoning inequality. No doubt, all students should also get the same mark as the best performing student -- or as the least performing student, if we do not wish to make the lowest performer feel left out...
Meritocracy becomes the rule of the lowest standard.
This is not the place not time to discuss the advantages or otherwise of the former. But we can certainly all agree to lament the latter.
Or can we??
*In teh mid 70s, in another European country then part of the Soviet bloc, 6 naval engineers were applying for a job at the Ministry of Labour. They were duly affected to "copying duties" at the Ministry of Justice (i.e. preparing photocopies for the various departments). There were numerous positions at the Ministry of Transport and Industry as well, but the educational background was not deemed binding (inequality) and the timing was not quite there.... the positions at the other Ministries were to open after summer holidays. Hey, at least they had jobs, for a while...
Wednesday, 22 April 2015
What Greece Should Do (for temporary relief); What Greeks Should Do For Repeated Relief
What Greece's government should do at present is pay sums to the IM, discuss with its Europartners the possibility of one-off supportto ease the strain of repayments, and DELAY payments internally. Or,, better still, it can dupe its electorate by paying its debts partly in euro and (mostly) in 10-100 year non-convertible Greek Government bonds.
In this way, the following will be achieved:
- ease the debt repayment considerably, as the IMF is the most expensive money. TYhe rest of the money Greece has received can reach an average below 2% -- which is better than some countries get on the free market!
- confirm its good intentions and give an olive branch to the country's justly exasperated europartners.
- provide an excellent excuse to forget all the moronic, and potentially disastrous for the nation as a whole, pre-electoral promises: "not my fault, had to save the sinking ship. But I tried, which is more than others did"
The last sentence being the crux of the matter. I.e. manage to stay in power which is the government's unique concern, and do something for the country while you're at it.
Not that Greek governments are ostensibly interested in the country they lead; the present government speaks of "workers rights", "people in crisis", of "equality", of "excellence being a form of fascist oppression"-- but never about Greece, the nation, the country.
-------
On the other hand, given that most Greek governments have shown a predilection for absurdity and for iniquity and giving support to pressure group at the expense of the majority of the population, Greeks should resort to using shame and guilt to inspire positive action and social reform from their government. After all, Greece's labour legislation, antiquated, inflexible and job creation averse only began to be reviewed when a Greek politician (A Mrs Diamantopoulou) was made fun ofin European parliament when she rose to speak about labour issues, representing a country with the most lacking legislation on the subject...
In this way, the following will be achieved:
- ease the debt repayment considerably, as the IMF is the most expensive money. TYhe rest of the money Greece has received can reach an average below 2% -- which is better than some countries get on the free market!
- confirm its good intentions and give an olive branch to the country's justly exasperated europartners.
- provide an excellent excuse to forget all the moronic, and potentially disastrous for the nation as a whole, pre-electoral promises: "not my fault, had to save the sinking ship. But I tried, which is more than others did"
The last sentence being the crux of the matter. I.e. manage to stay in power which is the government's unique concern, and do something for the country while you're at it.
Not that Greek governments are ostensibly interested in the country they lead; the present government speaks of "workers rights", "people in crisis", of "equality", of "excellence being a form of fascist oppression"-- but never about Greece, the nation, the country.
-------
On the other hand, given that most Greek governments have shown a predilection for absurdity and for iniquity and giving support to pressure group at the expense of the majority of the population, Greeks should resort to using shame and guilt to inspire positive action and social reform from their government. After all, Greece's labour legislation, antiquated, inflexible and job creation averse only began to be reviewed when a Greek politician (A Mrs Diamantopoulou) was made fun ofin European parliament when she rose to speak about labour issues, representing a country with the most lacking legislation on the subject...
Tuesday, 21 April 2015
What's Wrong With These People?
Greece and its government seem to espouse a kind of "left-wing" lax-ism which is unique in that it is the glorification of absurdity :
a love for the loser & the criminal seen as the underdog (losers, criminals & sundry are checked for the reasons underpinning & thereby their deviance and thereby absolving their crimes???!!); veneration of the lowest standard and meritocracy is vilified ("leading", higher calibre schools have been abolished); the rule of law is subordinate to the interests of pressure groups (civil servants pay less tax, PPC employees get different pay levels, etc, etc); the "interests of the workers" primes over other considerations according to the government -- even if there are very few blue collar workers in Greece (12% of work / unemployed force); foreign investment is pursued verbally but private operation is discouraged (restrictive labour law and operating licensing, high fines and expensive social security, many unexpected "nuisance taxes", etc; planned investments by Siemens, Benz, TVX Gold, wind energy group, etc, were initially or definitively repelled: "we don't want investment");
And, at the end of the day, "politically correct" in a country that officially endorses extremist left-wing while condemning extremist right wing (such as the Golden Dawn party -- which, btw is the runner up in recent elections) and teaming up with a right wing naysayer, a country which disallows business but does not touch civil servants found guilty of criminal neglect or appropriation of funds... etc etc means, simply:
*anyone can run for elections (if they pay of course), extremist, terrorist, psychopath and sundry and get elected;
*any absurdity goes, especially if the absurdity goes against common practise.
It is amazing that a right-left wing coalition of thwarted adolescents continues to hoodwink the population -- or at least 60% who did not vote for them with myths about conspiracy to overthrow the government, coups planned by bankers, dark secrets etc. A minister who visibly spends his time travelling and speaking and drinking; another who frees a terrorist sentenced with a life sentence "for humanitarian reasons" (how about the victims' humanitarian rights) and because he is no longer a threat because he is near-blind (so is another minister; we assume that the minister is near-useless in his position as well); yet another who abolishes selection criteria in academia because that promotes inequality...
Amazingly, amongst the majority are parties composed of normal people such as the Potami (river; where did they find that name?)
Hopefully one day soon, 60% of Greeks who did not vote for the present government will snap out of their comma and realise the ridicule before the global community turns away in disgust.
a love for the loser & the criminal seen as the underdog (losers, criminals & sundry are checked for the reasons underpinning & thereby their deviance and thereby absolving their crimes???!!); veneration of the lowest standard and meritocracy is vilified ("leading", higher calibre schools have been abolished); the rule of law is subordinate to the interests of pressure groups (civil servants pay less tax, PPC employees get different pay levels, etc, etc); the "interests of the workers" primes over other considerations according to the government -- even if there are very few blue collar workers in Greece (12% of work / unemployed force); foreign investment is pursued verbally but private operation is discouraged (restrictive labour law and operating licensing, high fines and expensive social security, many unexpected "nuisance taxes", etc; planned investments by Siemens, Benz, TVX Gold, wind energy group, etc, were initially or definitively repelled: "we don't want investment");
And, at the end of the day, "politically correct" in a country that officially endorses extremist left-wing while condemning extremist right wing (such as the Golden Dawn party -- which, btw is the runner up in recent elections) and teaming up with a right wing naysayer, a country which disallows business but does not touch civil servants found guilty of criminal neglect or appropriation of funds... etc etc means, simply:
*anyone can run for elections (if they pay of course), extremist, terrorist, psychopath and sundry and get elected;
*any absurdity goes, especially if the absurdity goes against common practise.
It is amazing that a right-left wing coalition of thwarted adolescents continues to hoodwink the population -- or at least 60% who did not vote for them with myths about conspiracy to overthrow the government, coups planned by bankers, dark secrets etc. A minister who visibly spends his time travelling and speaking and drinking; another who frees a terrorist sentenced with a life sentence "for humanitarian reasons" (how about the victims' humanitarian rights) and because he is no longer a threat because he is near-blind (so is another minister; we assume that the minister is near-useless in his position as well); yet another who abolishes selection criteria in academia because that promotes inequality...
Amazingly, amongst the majority are parties composed of normal people such as the Potami (river; where did they find that name?)
Hopefully one day soon, 60% of Greeks who did not vote for the present government will snap out of their comma and realise the ridicule before the global community turns away in disgust.
The Greek Government's Humanitarianism -- hopefully not criminal.
Whether Greece's government officials have a point in what they have been doing lately (opening the borders to rogue immigration without any plan to contain & support the people, demanding for a bail-out plan with any plan, sinking the economy further just to see how low it can reach...) or they just feel like being contrarian, the disctinction no longer seem relevant.
Now, Greece's government came up with a new law that frees criminals for humanistic reasons.In so doing, Greece's government is freeing among other, killers, terrorists, murderers and sundry. One of these is a murderer with terrorist inclinations --basically a serial killer-- called Xiros who has been found guilty of a number of murders.
Interestingly, this very "humanistic' law thinks of the perpetrator; the victims seem to have dropped off the equation. No-one mentions these; "victims -- what's that" some of Greece's current ruling politicians seem to be saying? After all, does a victim vote? No. So, forget the victims.
It puts out a clear message for all to see: go right ahead killing, and if you're caught roll over and play sick. At the end of a decade or so, you'll be out. (Hey it's better than nothing!)
When the son of one of Xiros' victims asked why the government was liberating his father's murderer the government official (a woman) responded "well, you (i.e. the political party his father belonged-obviously not hers) are responsible for other..."
????!!!!
The sheer disrespect & cynicism boggles the mind!
Even Hitler had not come up such a ! Maybe Stalin had, I'm not sure. With one sweep of her broom, the woman judged past events as criminal, chose the perpetrator in an eye-blink, and set the vendetta without blinking! One crime deserves the other and your father was a criminal????
And justifies the killing of others.
Is this her take on the hollywood goldie "You kill one of ours we kill two of yours..."? If so, is the criminal "one of theirs"???
But then, Hitler didn't actually have many terrorists who killed diplomats, politicians and a few business for the fun of it -- does that explain it???
But really, what a thing to say !
Possibly Greece's government officials either live in another dimension. Or this woman does.
Hopefully the latter.
Now, Greece's government came up with a new law that frees criminals for humanistic reasons.In so doing, Greece's government is freeing among other, killers, terrorists, murderers and sundry. One of these is a murderer with terrorist inclinations --basically a serial killer-- called Xiros who has been found guilty of a number of murders.
Interestingly, this very "humanistic' law thinks of the perpetrator; the victims seem to have dropped off the equation. No-one mentions these; "victims -- what's that" some of Greece's current ruling politicians seem to be saying? After all, does a victim vote? No. So, forget the victims.
It puts out a clear message for all to see: go right ahead killing, and if you're caught roll over and play sick. At the end of a decade or so, you'll be out. (Hey it's better than nothing!)
When the son of one of Xiros' victims asked why the government was liberating his father's murderer the government official (a woman) responded "well, you (i.e. the political party his father belonged-obviously not hers) are responsible for other..."
????!!!!
The sheer disrespect & cynicism boggles the mind!
Even Hitler had not come up such a ! Maybe Stalin had, I'm not sure. With one sweep of her broom, the woman judged past events as criminal, chose the perpetrator in an eye-blink, and set the vendetta without blinking! One crime deserves the other and your father was a criminal????
And justifies the killing of others.
Is this her take on the hollywood goldie "You kill one of ours we kill two of yours..."? If so, is the criminal "one of theirs"???
But then, Hitler didn't actually have many terrorists who killed diplomats, politicians and a few business for the fun of it -- does that explain it???
But really, what a thing to say !
Possibly Greece's government officials either live in another dimension. Or this woman does.
Hopefully the latter.
Monday, 30 March 2015
Small Cash-Flow Problem... Brother, can you spare a dime?
Nothing the Germans cannot handle -- or anyone else, for that matter; the Greek government aren't choosers... Loans are welcome from all sides.
Hellenic Republic
The Prime Minister
15 March 2015
To the Chancellor of the Federal
In conclusion, Greece is committed to
fulfilling its obligations in good faith and close cooperation with its partners. To this purpose we are committed fully
to the process specified in the 20th February Eurogroup agreement so as to begin
immediately the work of implementing reforms crucial to our economy's prospects of
long term development within an inclusive
Europe. With this letter I am urging you not to allow a small cash flow issue, and a certain
'institutional inertia', to not turn into a large problem for Greece and for
Europe.
In other words, "sister can you spare a dime"?
Or two?
Hellenic Republic
The Prime Minister
15 March 2015
To the Chancellor of the Federal
Republic of Germany, Mrs Angela Merkel
Dear
Chancellor,
I am writing to you to express my deep
concern about developments since the 20th February 2015
Eurogroup agreement, which was preceded two days earlier by a letter from our Minister of Finance outlining a number of issues that the Eurogroup ought to resolve; issues which I consider to
be important, including the
need:
(a)
To agree the mutually acceptable financial
and administrative terms the implementation of which, in
collaboration with the institutions, will stabilise Greece's
fiscal position, attain appropriate primary fiscal
surpluses, guarantee debt stability and assist in the
attainment of fiscal targets for 2015 that take into
account the present economic situation.
(b)
To allow the European Central
Bank to re-introduce the waiver
in accordance with its procedures and regulations.
(c)
To commence work between
the technical teams on a possible new Contract for
Recovery and Development that the Greek authorities envisage between
Greece,
Europe and the International Monetary Fund, to
follow the current Agreement
(d)
To discuss means of enacting the November
2012 Eurogroup decision regarding possible further debt measures
and assistance for implementation after the completion of the extended Agreement
and as part of the follow-up Contract.
Based on the in-principle acceptance of this
letter and its content, the President of the Eurogroup
convened the 20th February meeting which reached a unanimous decision expressed in a communique. The
latter constitutes a new framework for the relationship
between Greece, its partners, and the institutions.
More precisely, the 20th February Eurogroup
agreement stipulated a number of points
outlining this new framework and process, including:
(a)
The Greek
authorities will present a first list of reform measures, based on the current arrangement, by the end of Monday
February 23. The institutions will provide a
first view whether this is sufficiently comprehensive to be a valid starting point for a successful conclusion of
the review. This list will be further specified and
then agreed with the institutions by the end of April.
(b)
The Greek
authorities have expressed their strong commitment to a broader and deeper structural reform process aimed at
durably improving growth and employment
prospects, ensuring stability and resilience of the financial sector and enhancing social fairness. The authorities
commit to implementing long overdue reforms
to tackle corruption and tax evasion, and improving the efficiency of the public sector. In this
context, the Greek authorities undertake to make best
use of the continued provision of technical assistance.
(c)
We remain
committed to provide adequate support to Greece until it has regained full market access as long as it
honours its commitments within the agreed
framework.
Based on this
common ground, the Minister of Finance sent
to the President of the Eurogroup a letter, dated 23th February
2015, with the aforementioned "first list of reforms" [see (a) above] proposed by our government. On 24th
February 2015 the said "first
list" was accepted by the institutions as "sufficiently comprehensive
to be a valid starting point for a
successful conclusion of the review" by 20th
April 2015.
In order to expedite the process, the Ministry
of Finance sent a letter to the President of the Eurogroup on 5rd March 2015 urging that the process
of technical discussions on specifying further the "first list of
reforms" begin immediately. In the same
letter the Minister of Finance attached seven examples of how the reforms in
the "first list" could be developed and specified further.
Following a positive reply by the President of the
Eurogroup (dated 61h March
2015) and the subsequent Eurogroup meeting of
9th March 2015, the first round of discussions
of the Brussels Group (comprising
of the four institutions — EC-ECB-ESMIMF — plus the technical team of the
Greek government) took place, in Brussels, on Wednesday
11th March dealing with both political and technical
issues. At that meeting it was also
decided that technical teams of the institutions would travel to Athens on the following day for on-site
fact-finding to assist the Brussels Group negotiations.
In the context of the above, I feel it is
critical to alert you to a number of developments which are either
undermining the spirit of the agreements reached or making their fulfillment perilously difficult.
a) On 4th February 2015
the European Central Bank lifted the waiver for minimum credit rating requirements for marketable
instruments issued or guaranteed by the Hellenic
Republic, while declaring that the waiver would be restored when an agreement was reached at the level of the
Eurogroup. Moreover, even since the Greek banks
were referred to the Bank of Greece's ELA facility, the ECB has been raising the ELA's ceiling at shorter
intervals than normal and at rather small increments that incite speculation
and spread uncertainty vis-à-vis Greece's banking
system. Additionally, the ECB determined that Greek banks cannot hold more T-bills than they did on 18th February 2015,
thus restricting their participation
to well below the T-bill cap. (Please note that, in the summer of 2012, when a new Athens government was in a similar
situation to ours. ELA was being expanded
generously, the T-bill issuance cap was lifted to
allow the government to finance its debt
repayments to our creditors, and banks were not restricted to
any limit corresponding to a prior date's holdings. In that manner the government
of the time and the Eurogroup were granted sufficient 'space' to reach an
arrangement that allowed the Greek banks to move away from ELA and back to normal
ECB financing methods.)
b) Following past failures (of the previous government) to complete the
scheduled reviews, disbursements under the loan agreements with the ESM-EFSF were discontinued
(while those of the IMF were similarly delayed), yielding a substantial
financing gap in 2014 and 2015. This includes the profits from the ECB's
SMP-sourced bond redemptions, which the ECB distributes to member states on the
understanding that they be passed onto the Greek government.
Given that
Greece has no access to money markets, and also in view of the
'spikes' in our debt repayment obligations during the Spring and Summer of 2015
(primarily to the IMF), it ought to be clear that the ECB's special restrictions [see
(a) above] when combined with the disbursement delays [see (b) above] would make it
impossible for any government to service its debt obligations. Servicing these
repayments through internal resources alone would, indeed, lead to a sharp
deterioration in the already depressed Greek social economy — a prospect that I
will not countenance.
Meanwhile, I also regret to report that little progress has been made in the negotiations between the technical
teams in Brussels and in Athens. The reason for the extremely slow progress is that
the institutions' technical teams, as well as some of the actors
at a higher level, seem to show little regard for the 20th February Eurogroup
agreement and are, instead,
committed to proceeding along the lines of the Memorandum
of Understanding that pre-dates both the 20th February agreement and
25th January 2015 — the date on which the Greek people elected a new
government with a mandate to negotiating the new process established by the 20th February
Eurogroup agreement. It is difficult to believe that
our partners consider that a successful reform drive can be carried out under such
restrictive and pressing constraints, including the financial squeeze that my government
is currently labouring under .
The Greek government remains steadfast in its commitment to fulfill its
obligations
to its partners within the framework of the 18th February letter and 20th February
to its partners within the framework of the 18th February letter and 20th February
Eurogroup decision. However, I am also obliged
to make clear to you that, in order to continue to fulfill our obligations, as we have done up till now, progress has to be made on a
number of fronts:
(a)
After the 20th February Eurogroup agreement and the approval of the extension of the
MFAFA by member states, and given that the technical discussions with the institutions are under way, the ECB should return
the terms of finance of the Greek
banks to their pre-4th February 2015
state.
(b)
The process by which the reforms proposed by the Greek government, and their evaluation, must be immediately clarified so as to make a
successful conclusion of the review by end of April
2015, as well as to specify the recommencement of disbursements with th e
progress of the negotiations.
(c)
The process must be specified (as well as the
participants and the timetable) by which further arrangements (which my government would like to take the form of a 'Contract for Greece's Recovery and Development' — including provisions on Greece's public debt in the spirit of the November 2012 Eurogroup agreement) will be agreed to before the end of June 2015.
Alex Tsipras
In other words, "sister can you spare a dime"?
Or two?
Wednesday, 11 March 2015
Greece's Government Stands Up To... No-one
In the continuing saga of misinformation and, it is rumoured, censorship, Greece's new government continues to hoodwink a willing population to believe it is the David that is standing up against Goliath.
Goliath is the enemy who has imposed austerity upon the poor nation. And has taken away that nation's dignity.
Accordingly, Greece's governing party and the media towing the party line have turned to the Germans as the best candidates to take on the role of the enemy.
Because Greece's government propaganda needs, it seems, an enemy.
Only one snag: there is no enemy to speak of, only European partners in a European Union that includes Germany along with another 26 countries.
But there is a lot of clowning:
* from Greece's Finance Minister who still believes in bullshit talking despite money walking;
* from the Ms Rachel Makri, a tribute to jokes about blondes, who claims that she (Greece) can print money whenever the country needs liquidity;
* the minister who believe in lowering the standards of education, in cutting off investment and privatisation, in a centrally controlled economy with municipal control units;
* the same ministers promising relief to the poor and public sector recruitment in the same breath. In the next breath, they request that people pay their taxes;
* By the the (extreme right wing) minister of Defence who threatens the Eurogroup with terrorist reaction if the Group does not authorise further aid to Greece;
* By the phantasmagorical bullshit that Greece's government is reshaping Europe;
* By all the media who lavishly exalt the government's successes abroad, their victories, the new era in European politics;
** By the fact that none of the above exists outside the minds of Greece's confused electorate.
The fact that someone stands up to someone else is fine, especially if there is reason to do so. In this case there isn't, even Germany's Finance Minister, not known for his sense of humour, seems to think Greece's government is out to amuse people -- or confuse everyone. Not surprisingly, he doesn't understand a thing of what Greece's government officials are saying.
At the moment, no-one is standing up to anyone; Greece's politicians are pretending to do so, presumably to make people back home feel proud.
There is nothing to feel proud of, unfortunately.
The sad truth is that people outside home feel pitiful rather than anything else. Greece's previous government projected a loser profile. The present government is all over the place and sounds like a thwarted adolescent.
Greece deserves better.
Goliath is the enemy who has imposed austerity upon the poor nation. And has taken away that nation's dignity.
Accordingly, Greece's governing party and the media towing the party line have turned to the Germans as the best candidates to take on the role of the enemy.
Because Greece's government propaganda needs, it seems, an enemy.
Only one snag: there is no enemy to speak of, only European partners in a European Union that includes Germany along with another 26 countries.
But there is a lot of clowning:
* from Greece's Finance Minister who still believes in bullshit talking despite money walking;
* from the Ms Rachel Makri, a tribute to jokes about blondes, who claims that she (Greece) can print money whenever the country needs liquidity;
* the minister who believe in lowering the standards of education, in cutting off investment and privatisation, in a centrally controlled economy with municipal control units;
* the same ministers promising relief to the poor and public sector recruitment in the same breath. In the next breath, they request that people pay their taxes;
* By the the (extreme right wing) minister of Defence who threatens the Eurogroup with terrorist reaction if the Group does not authorise further aid to Greece;
* By the phantasmagorical bullshit that Greece's government is reshaping Europe;
* By all the media who lavishly exalt the government's successes abroad, their victories, the new era in European politics;
** By the fact that none of the above exists outside the minds of Greece's confused electorate.
The fact that someone stands up to someone else is fine, especially if there is reason to do so. In this case there isn't, even Germany's Finance Minister, not known for his sense of humour, seems to think Greece's government is out to amuse people -- or confuse everyone. Not surprisingly, he doesn't understand a thing of what Greece's government officials are saying.
At the moment, no-one is standing up to anyone; Greece's politicians are pretending to do so, presumably to make people back home feel proud.
There is nothing to feel proud of, unfortunately.
The sad truth is that people outside home feel pitiful rather than anything else. Greece's previous government projected a loser profile. The present government is all over the place and sounds like a thwarted adolescent.
Greece deserves better.
Wednesday, 25 February 2015
Innovation in Education: the Greek Minister of Education Lowers the School Standards
Sir Ken (Robinson) the famous educationalist, once said the obvious (but it is nice to be able to quote an expert) "... we have to raise the standards of education, we should... I haven't come across an argument that says we should lower them"
Well, A. Baltas, Greece's new minister for education obviously has found an argument in favour of lowering the standards of education. High standards and selection are, "Hitlerian in nature".
He proposes to put an end to pupil selection at certain "higher standard" schools.
Which is an excellent way to supplant and further Greece's mediocre educational performance.
Instead, he could have cogitated helping other schools reach the standards of the "special" schools -- or, better still for the country's educational system, remained at home.
Well, A. Baltas, Greece's new minister for education obviously has found an argument in favour of lowering the standards of education. High standards and selection are, "Hitlerian in nature".
He proposes to put an end to pupil selection at certain "higher standard" schools.
Which is an excellent way to supplant and further Greece's mediocre educational performance.
Instead, he could have cogitated helping other schools reach the standards of the "special" schools -- or, better still for the country's educational system, remained at home.
Tuesday, 24 February 2015
What Greece Actually Promised (Greek Finance Minister's Letter to the Eurogroup)
The text of Greek
Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis's letter to Eurogroup President
Jeroen Dijsselbloem outlining Greece's proposed reforms.
Not much different from what the previous government had in signed.
So, in essence, Greece is re-proposing what had been already agreed upon before.
If at least some of the reforms are implemented Greece, rather than its politicians, stands to gain.
That cannot be a bad thing.
"Dear President of the Eurogroup,
In the Eurogroup of 20 February 2015 the Greek government was invited to present to the institutions, by Monday 23rd February 2015, a first comprehensive list of reform measures it is envisaging, to be further specified and agreed by the end of April 2015.
In addition to codifying its reform agenda, in accordance with PM Tsipras’ programmatic statement to Greece’s Parliament, the Greek government also committed to working in close agreement with European partners and institutions, as well as with the International Monetary Fund, and take actions that strengthen fiscal sustainability, guarantee financial stability and promote economic recovery.
The first comprehensive list of reform measures follows below, as envisaged by the Greek government. It is our intention to implement them while drawing upon available technical assistance and financing from the European Structural and Investment Funds.
Truly
Yanis Varoufakis
Minister of Finance
Hellenic Republic
I. Fiscal structural policies
Tax policies – Greece commits to:
• Reform VAT policy, administration and enforcement. Robust efforts will be made to improve collection and fight evasion making full use of electronic means and other technological innovations. VAT policy will be rationalized in relation to rates that will be streamlined in a manner that maximizes actual revenues without a negative impact on social justice, and with a view to limiting exemptions while eliminating unreasonable discounts.
• Modify the taxation of collective investment and income tax expenditures which will be integrated in the income tax code.
• Broaden definition of tax fraud and evasion while disbanding tax immunity.
• Modernizing the income tax code and eliminating from it tax code exemptions and replacing them, when necessary, with social justice enhancing measures.
• Resolutely enforce and improve legislation on transfer pricing.
• Work toward creating a new culture of tax compliance to ensure that all sections of society, and especially the well-off, contribute fairly to the financing of public policies. In this context, establish with the assistance of European and international partners, a wealth database that assists the tax authorities in gauging the veracity of previous income tax returns.
Public Finance Management – Greece will:
• Adopt amendments to the Organic Budget Law and take steps to improve public finance management. Budget implementation will be improved and clarified as will control and reporting responsibilities. Payment procedures will be modernized and accelerated while providing a higher degree of financial and budgetary flexibility and accountability for independent and/or regulatory entities.
• Devise and implement a strategy on the clearance of arrears, tax refunds and pension claims.
• Turn the already established (though hitherto dormant) Fiscal Council into a fully operational entity.
Revenue administration – Greece will modernize the tax and custom administrations benefiting from available technical assistance. To this end Greece will:
• Enhance the openness, transparency and international reach of the process by which the General Secretary of the General Secretariat of Public Revenues is appointed, monitored in terms of performance, and replaced.
• Strengthen the independence of the General Secretariat of Public Revenues (GSPR), if necessary through further legislation, from all sorts of interference (political or otherwise) while guaranteeing full accountability and transparency of its operations. To this end, the government and the GSPR will make full use of available technical assistance.
• Staff adequately, both quantitatively and qualitatively, the GSPR and in particular the high wealth and large debtors units of the revenue administration and ensure that it has strong investigative/prosecution powers, and resources building on SDOE’s capacities, so as to target effectively tax fraud by, and tax arrears of, high income social groups. Consider the merits of integrating SDOE into GSPR.
• Augment inspections, risk-based audits, and collection capacities while seeking to integrate the functions of revenue and social security collection across the general government.
Public spending – The Greek authorities will:
• Review and control spending in every area of government spending (e.g. education, defense, transport, local government, social benefits)
• Work toward drastically improving the efficiency of central and local government administered departments and units by targeting budgetary processes, management restructuring, and reallocation of poorly deployed resources.
• Identify cost saving measures through a thorough spending review of every Ministry and rationalization of non-salary and non-pension expenditures which, at present, account for an astounding 56% of total public expenditure.
• Implement legislation (currently in draft form at the General Accounts Office - GAO) to review non-wage benefits expenditure across the public sector.
• Validate benefits through cross checks within the relevant authorities and registries (e.g. Tax Number Registry, AMKA registry) that will help identify non-eligible beneficiaries.
• Control health expenditure and improve the provision and quality of medical services, while granting universal access. In this context, the government intends to table specific proposals in collaboration with European and international institutions, including the OECD.
Social security reform – Greece is committed to continue modernizing the pension system. The authorities will:
• Continue to work on administrative measures to unify and streamline pension policies and eliminate loopholes and incentives that give rise to an excessive rate of early retirements throughout the economy and, more specifically, in the banking and public sectors.
• Consolidate pension funds to achieve savings.
• Phase out charges on behalf of ‘third parties’ (nuisance charges) in a fiscally neutral manner.
• Establish a closer link between pension contributions and income, streamline benefits, strengthen incentives to declare paid work, and provide targeted assistance to employees between 50 and 65, including through a Guaranteed Basic Income scheme, so as to eliminate the social and political pressure for early retirement which over-burdens the pension funds.
Public administration & corruption – Greece wants a modern public administration. It will:
• Turn the fight against corruption into a national priority and operationalize fully the National Plan Against Corruption.
• Target fuel and tobacco products’ smuggling, monitor prices of imported goods (to prevent revenue losses during the importation process), and tackle money laundering. The government intends immediately to set itself ambitious revenue targets, in these areas, to be pursued under the coordination of the newly established position of Minister of State.
• Reduce (a) the number of Ministries (from 16 to 10), (b) the number of 'special advisors' in general government; and (c) fringe benefits of ministers, Members of Parliament and top officials (e.g. cars, travel expenses, allowances)
• Tighten the legislation concerning the funding of political parties and include maximum levels of borrowing from financial and other institutions.
• Activate immediately the current (though dormant) legislation that regulates the revenues of media (press and electronic), ensuring (through appropriately designed auctions) that they pay the state market prices for frequencies used, and prohibits the continued operation of permanently loss-making media outlets (without a transparent process of recapitalization)
• Establish a transparent, electronic, real time institutional framework for public tenders/procurement – re-establishing DIAVGEIA (a side-lined online public registry of activities relating to public procurement)
• Reform the public sector wage grid with a view to decompressing the wage distribution through productivity gains and appropriate recruitment policies without reducing the current wage floors but safeguarding that the public sector’s wage bill will not increase
• Rationalize non-wage benefits, to reduce overall expenditure, without imperilling the functioning of the public sector and in accordance with EU good practices
• Promote measures to: improve recruitment mechanisms, encourage merit-based managerial appointments, base staff appraisals on genuine evaluation, and establish fair processes for maximizing mobility of human and other resources within the public sector
II. Financial stability
Installment schemes – Greece commits to
• Improve swiftly, in agreement with the institutions, the legislation for repayments of tax and social security arrears
• Calibrate installment schemes in a manner that helps discriminate efficiently between: (a) strategic default/non-payment and (b) inability to pay; targeting case (a) individuals/firms by means of civil and criminal procedures (especially amongst high income groups) while offering case (b) individuals/firms repayment terms in a manner that enables potentially solvent enterprises to survive, averts free-riding, annuls moral hazard, and reinforces social responsibility as well as a proper re-payment culture.
• Decriminalize lower income debtors with small liabilities
• Step up enforcement methods and procedures, including the legal framework for collecting unpaid taxes and effectively implement collection tools
Banking and Non-Performing loans. Greece is committed to:
• Banks that are run on sound commercial/banking principles
• Utilize fully the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund and ensure, in collaboration with the SSM, the ECB and the European Commission, that it plays well its key role of securing the banking sector’s stability and its lending on commercial basis while complying with EU competition rules.
• Dealing with non-performing loans in a manner that considers fully the banks’ capitalization (taking into account the adopted Code of Conduct for Banks), the functioning of the judiciary system, the state of the real estate market, social justice issues, and any adverse impact on the government’s fiscal position.
• Collaborating with the banks’ management and the institutions to avoid, in the forthcoming period, auctions of the main residence of households below a certain income threshold, while punishing strategic defaulters, with a view to: (a) maintaining society’s support for the government’s broad reform program, (b) preventing a further fall in real estate asset prices (that would have an adverse effect on the banks’ own portfolio), (c) minimizing the fiscal impact of greater homelessness, and (d) promoting a strong payment culture. Measures will be taken to support the most vulnerable households who are unable to service their loans
• Align the out-of-court workout law with the installment schemes after their amendment, to limit risks to public finances and the payment culture, while facilitating private debt restructuring.
• Modernize bankruptcy law and address the backlog of cases
III. Policies to promote growth
Privatization and public asset management – To attract investment in key sectors and utilize the state’s assets efficiently, the Greek authorities will:
• Commit not to roll back privatizations that have been completed. Where the tender process has been launched the government will respect the process, according to the law.
• Safeguard the provision of basic public goods and services by privatized firms/industries in line with national policy goals and in compliance with EU legislation.
• Review privatizations that have not yet been launched, with a view to improving the terms so as to maximize the state’s long term benefits, generate revenues, enhance competition in the local economies, promote national economic recovery, and stimulate long term growth prospects.
• Adopt, henceforth, an approach whereby each new case will be examined separately and on its merits, with an emphasis on long leases, joint ventures (private-public collaboration) and contracts that maximize not only government revenues but also prospective levels of private investment.
• Unify (HRDAF) with various public asset management agencies (which are currently scattered across the public sector) with a view to developing state assets and enhancing their value through microeconomic and property rights’ reforms.
Labor market reforms – Greece commits to:
• Achieve EU best practice across the range of labor market legislation through a process of consultation with the social partners while benefiting from the expertise and existing input of the ILO, the OECD and the available technical assistance.
• Expand and develop the existing scheme that provides temporary employment for the unemployed, in agreement with partners and when fiscal space permits and improve the active labor market policy programs with the aim to updating the skills of the long term unemployed.
• Phasing in a new ‘smart’ approach to collective wage bargaining that balances the needs for flexibility with fairness. This includes the ambition to streamline and over time raise minimum wages in a manner that safeguards competiveness and employment prospects. The scope and timing of changes to the minimum wage will be made in consultation with social partners and the European and international institutions, including the ILO, and take full account of advice from a new independent body on whether changes in wages are in line with productivity developments and competitiveness.
Product market reforms and a better business environment – As part of a new reform agenda, Greece remains committed to:
• Removing barriers to competition based on input from the OECD.
• Strengthen the Hellenic Competition Commission.
• Introduce actions to reduce the burdens of administrative burden of bureaucracy in line with the OECD’s input, including legislation that bans public sector units from requesting (from citizens and business) documents certifying information that the state already possesses (within the same or some other unit).
• Better land use management, including policies related to spatial planning, land use, and the finalization of a proper Land Registry
• Pursue efforts to lift disproportionate and unjustified restrictions in regulated professions as part of the overall strategy to tackle vested interests.
• Align gas and electricity market regulation with EU good practices and legislation
Reform of the judicial system – The Greek government will:
• Improve the organization of courts through greater specialization and, in this context, adopt a new
Code of Civil Procedure.
• Promote the digitization of legal codes and the electronic submission system, and governance, of the judicial system.
Statistics – The Greek government reaffirms its readiness to:
• Honor fully the Commitment on Confidence in Statistics, and in particular the institutional independence of ELSTAT, ensuring that ELSTAT has the necessary resources to implement its work program.
• Guarantee the transparency and propriety of the process of appointment of the ELSTAT President in September 2015, in cooperation with EUROSTAT.
IV. Humanitarian Crisis – The Greek government affirms its plan to:
• Address needs arising from the recent rise in absolute poverty (inadequate access to nourishment, shelter, health services and basic energy provision) by means of highly targeted non-pecuniary measures (e.g. food stamps).
• Do so in a manner that is helpful to the reforming of public administration and the fight against bureaucracy/corruption (e.g. the issuance of a Citizen Smart Card that can be used as an ID card, in the Health System, as well as for gaining access to the food stamp program etc.).
• Evaluate the pilot Minimum Guaranteed Income scheme with a view to extending it nationwide.
• Ensure that its fight against the humanitarian crisis has no negative fiscal effect."
A lot of stuff to achieve in 4 months.
How cool is that!
Not much different from what the previous government had in signed.
So, in essence, Greece is re-proposing what had been already agreed upon before.
If at least some of the reforms are implemented Greece, rather than its politicians, stands to gain.
That cannot be a bad thing.
"Dear President of the Eurogroup,
In the Eurogroup of 20 February 2015 the Greek government was invited to present to the institutions, by Monday 23rd February 2015, a first comprehensive list of reform measures it is envisaging, to be further specified and agreed by the end of April 2015.
In addition to codifying its reform agenda, in accordance with PM Tsipras’ programmatic statement to Greece’s Parliament, the Greek government also committed to working in close agreement with European partners and institutions, as well as with the International Monetary Fund, and take actions that strengthen fiscal sustainability, guarantee financial stability and promote economic recovery.
The first comprehensive list of reform measures follows below, as envisaged by the Greek government. It is our intention to implement them while drawing upon available technical assistance and financing from the European Structural and Investment Funds.
Truly
Yanis Varoufakis
Minister of Finance
Hellenic Republic
I. Fiscal structural policies
Tax policies – Greece commits to:
• Reform VAT policy, administration and enforcement. Robust efforts will be made to improve collection and fight evasion making full use of electronic means and other technological innovations. VAT policy will be rationalized in relation to rates that will be streamlined in a manner that maximizes actual revenues without a negative impact on social justice, and with a view to limiting exemptions while eliminating unreasonable discounts.
• Modify the taxation of collective investment and income tax expenditures which will be integrated in the income tax code.
• Broaden definition of tax fraud and evasion while disbanding tax immunity.
• Modernizing the income tax code and eliminating from it tax code exemptions and replacing them, when necessary, with social justice enhancing measures.
• Resolutely enforce and improve legislation on transfer pricing.
• Work toward creating a new culture of tax compliance to ensure that all sections of society, and especially the well-off, contribute fairly to the financing of public policies. In this context, establish with the assistance of European and international partners, a wealth database that assists the tax authorities in gauging the veracity of previous income tax returns.
Public Finance Management – Greece will:
• Adopt amendments to the Organic Budget Law and take steps to improve public finance management. Budget implementation will be improved and clarified as will control and reporting responsibilities. Payment procedures will be modernized and accelerated while providing a higher degree of financial and budgetary flexibility and accountability for independent and/or regulatory entities.
• Devise and implement a strategy on the clearance of arrears, tax refunds and pension claims.
• Turn the already established (though hitherto dormant) Fiscal Council into a fully operational entity.
Revenue administration – Greece will modernize the tax and custom administrations benefiting from available technical assistance. To this end Greece will:
• Enhance the openness, transparency and international reach of the process by which the General Secretary of the General Secretariat of Public Revenues is appointed, monitored in terms of performance, and replaced.
• Strengthen the independence of the General Secretariat of Public Revenues (GSPR), if necessary through further legislation, from all sorts of interference (political or otherwise) while guaranteeing full accountability and transparency of its operations. To this end, the government and the GSPR will make full use of available technical assistance.
• Staff adequately, both quantitatively and qualitatively, the GSPR and in particular the high wealth and large debtors units of the revenue administration and ensure that it has strong investigative/prosecution powers, and resources building on SDOE’s capacities, so as to target effectively tax fraud by, and tax arrears of, high income social groups. Consider the merits of integrating SDOE into GSPR.
• Augment inspections, risk-based audits, and collection capacities while seeking to integrate the functions of revenue and social security collection across the general government.
Public spending – The Greek authorities will:
• Review and control spending in every area of government spending (e.g. education, defense, transport, local government, social benefits)
• Work toward drastically improving the efficiency of central and local government administered departments and units by targeting budgetary processes, management restructuring, and reallocation of poorly deployed resources.
• Identify cost saving measures through a thorough spending review of every Ministry and rationalization of non-salary and non-pension expenditures which, at present, account for an astounding 56% of total public expenditure.
• Implement legislation (currently in draft form at the General Accounts Office - GAO) to review non-wage benefits expenditure across the public sector.
• Validate benefits through cross checks within the relevant authorities and registries (e.g. Tax Number Registry, AMKA registry) that will help identify non-eligible beneficiaries.
• Control health expenditure and improve the provision and quality of medical services, while granting universal access. In this context, the government intends to table specific proposals in collaboration with European and international institutions, including the OECD.
Social security reform – Greece is committed to continue modernizing the pension system. The authorities will:
• Continue to work on administrative measures to unify and streamline pension policies and eliminate loopholes and incentives that give rise to an excessive rate of early retirements throughout the economy and, more specifically, in the banking and public sectors.
• Consolidate pension funds to achieve savings.
• Phase out charges on behalf of ‘third parties’ (nuisance charges) in a fiscally neutral manner.
• Establish a closer link between pension contributions and income, streamline benefits, strengthen incentives to declare paid work, and provide targeted assistance to employees between 50 and 65, including through a Guaranteed Basic Income scheme, so as to eliminate the social and political pressure for early retirement which over-burdens the pension funds.
Public administration & corruption – Greece wants a modern public administration. It will:
• Turn the fight against corruption into a national priority and operationalize fully the National Plan Against Corruption.
• Target fuel and tobacco products’ smuggling, monitor prices of imported goods (to prevent revenue losses during the importation process), and tackle money laundering. The government intends immediately to set itself ambitious revenue targets, in these areas, to be pursued under the coordination of the newly established position of Minister of State.
• Reduce (a) the number of Ministries (from 16 to 10), (b) the number of 'special advisors' in general government; and (c) fringe benefits of ministers, Members of Parliament and top officials (e.g. cars, travel expenses, allowances)
• Tighten the legislation concerning the funding of political parties and include maximum levels of borrowing from financial and other institutions.
• Activate immediately the current (though dormant) legislation that regulates the revenues of media (press and electronic), ensuring (through appropriately designed auctions) that they pay the state market prices for frequencies used, and prohibits the continued operation of permanently loss-making media outlets (without a transparent process of recapitalization)
• Establish a transparent, electronic, real time institutional framework for public tenders/procurement – re-establishing DIAVGEIA (a side-lined online public registry of activities relating to public procurement)
• Reform the public sector wage grid with a view to decompressing the wage distribution through productivity gains and appropriate recruitment policies without reducing the current wage floors but safeguarding that the public sector’s wage bill will not increase
• Rationalize non-wage benefits, to reduce overall expenditure, without imperilling the functioning of the public sector and in accordance with EU good practices
• Promote measures to: improve recruitment mechanisms, encourage merit-based managerial appointments, base staff appraisals on genuine evaluation, and establish fair processes for maximizing mobility of human and other resources within the public sector
II. Financial stability
Installment schemes – Greece commits to
• Improve swiftly, in agreement with the institutions, the legislation for repayments of tax and social security arrears
• Calibrate installment schemes in a manner that helps discriminate efficiently between: (a) strategic default/non-payment and (b) inability to pay; targeting case (a) individuals/firms by means of civil and criminal procedures (especially amongst high income groups) while offering case (b) individuals/firms repayment terms in a manner that enables potentially solvent enterprises to survive, averts free-riding, annuls moral hazard, and reinforces social responsibility as well as a proper re-payment culture.
• Decriminalize lower income debtors with small liabilities
• Step up enforcement methods and procedures, including the legal framework for collecting unpaid taxes and effectively implement collection tools
Banking and Non-Performing loans. Greece is committed to:
• Banks that are run on sound commercial/banking principles
• Utilize fully the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund and ensure, in collaboration with the SSM, the ECB and the European Commission, that it plays well its key role of securing the banking sector’s stability and its lending on commercial basis while complying with EU competition rules.
• Dealing with non-performing loans in a manner that considers fully the banks’ capitalization (taking into account the adopted Code of Conduct for Banks), the functioning of the judiciary system, the state of the real estate market, social justice issues, and any adverse impact on the government’s fiscal position.
• Collaborating with the banks’ management and the institutions to avoid, in the forthcoming period, auctions of the main residence of households below a certain income threshold, while punishing strategic defaulters, with a view to: (a) maintaining society’s support for the government’s broad reform program, (b) preventing a further fall in real estate asset prices (that would have an adverse effect on the banks’ own portfolio), (c) minimizing the fiscal impact of greater homelessness, and (d) promoting a strong payment culture. Measures will be taken to support the most vulnerable households who are unable to service their loans
• Align the out-of-court workout law with the installment schemes after their amendment, to limit risks to public finances and the payment culture, while facilitating private debt restructuring.
• Modernize bankruptcy law and address the backlog of cases
III. Policies to promote growth
Privatization and public asset management – To attract investment in key sectors and utilize the state’s assets efficiently, the Greek authorities will:
• Commit not to roll back privatizations that have been completed. Where the tender process has been launched the government will respect the process, according to the law.
• Safeguard the provision of basic public goods and services by privatized firms/industries in line with national policy goals and in compliance with EU legislation.
• Review privatizations that have not yet been launched, with a view to improving the terms so as to maximize the state’s long term benefits, generate revenues, enhance competition in the local economies, promote national economic recovery, and stimulate long term growth prospects.
• Adopt, henceforth, an approach whereby each new case will be examined separately and on its merits, with an emphasis on long leases, joint ventures (private-public collaboration) and contracts that maximize not only government revenues but also prospective levels of private investment.
• Unify (HRDAF) with various public asset management agencies (which are currently scattered across the public sector) with a view to developing state assets and enhancing their value through microeconomic and property rights’ reforms.
Labor market reforms – Greece commits to:
• Achieve EU best practice across the range of labor market legislation through a process of consultation with the social partners while benefiting from the expertise and existing input of the ILO, the OECD and the available technical assistance.
• Expand and develop the existing scheme that provides temporary employment for the unemployed, in agreement with partners and when fiscal space permits and improve the active labor market policy programs with the aim to updating the skills of the long term unemployed.
• Phasing in a new ‘smart’ approach to collective wage bargaining that balances the needs for flexibility with fairness. This includes the ambition to streamline and over time raise minimum wages in a manner that safeguards competiveness and employment prospects. The scope and timing of changes to the minimum wage will be made in consultation with social partners and the European and international institutions, including the ILO, and take full account of advice from a new independent body on whether changes in wages are in line with productivity developments and competitiveness.
Product market reforms and a better business environment – As part of a new reform agenda, Greece remains committed to:
• Removing barriers to competition based on input from the OECD.
• Strengthen the Hellenic Competition Commission.
• Introduce actions to reduce the burdens of administrative burden of bureaucracy in line with the OECD’s input, including legislation that bans public sector units from requesting (from citizens and business) documents certifying information that the state already possesses (within the same or some other unit).
• Better land use management, including policies related to spatial planning, land use, and the finalization of a proper Land Registry
• Pursue efforts to lift disproportionate and unjustified restrictions in regulated professions as part of the overall strategy to tackle vested interests.
• Align gas and electricity market regulation with EU good practices and legislation
Reform of the judicial system – The Greek government will:
• Improve the organization of courts through greater specialization and, in this context, adopt a new
Code of Civil Procedure.
• Promote the digitization of legal codes and the electronic submission system, and governance, of the judicial system.
Statistics – The Greek government reaffirms its readiness to:
• Honor fully the Commitment on Confidence in Statistics, and in particular the institutional independence of ELSTAT, ensuring that ELSTAT has the necessary resources to implement its work program.
• Guarantee the transparency and propriety of the process of appointment of the ELSTAT President in September 2015, in cooperation with EUROSTAT.
IV. Humanitarian Crisis – The Greek government affirms its plan to:
• Address needs arising from the recent rise in absolute poverty (inadequate access to nourishment, shelter, health services and basic energy provision) by means of highly targeted non-pecuniary measures (e.g. food stamps).
• Do so in a manner that is helpful to the reforming of public administration and the fight against bureaucracy/corruption (e.g. the issuance of a Citizen Smart Card that can be used as an ID card, in the Health System, as well as for gaining access to the food stamp program etc.).
• Evaluate the pilot Minimum Guaranteed Income scheme with a view to extending it nationwide.
• Ensure that its fight against the humanitarian crisis has no negative fiscal effect."
A lot of stuff to achieve in 4 months.
How cool is that!
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