ATHENS -- A special European task force for Greece Thursday gave
a mixed grade to the country in its public reform efforts, saying
progress has been made in some areas but there is still much room
for improvement.
The report comes at the end of a four-day mission to Athens by
task-force chief Horst Reichenbach to review Greece's progress in
areas mostly relating to public administration, and ranging from
tax reform to tackling bureaucratic hurdles that have hamstrung the
country's access to European support funds.
The task force, which was set up last year by Commission
President Jose Manuel Barroso, effectively has the twin role of
helping modernize Greece's cumbersome state apparatus while also
seeking ways to boost the country's competitiveness and jumpstart
its moribund economy.
"Greece's future passes through restoring both financial
stability and growth potential," Barroso said in a statement
releasing the report. "The support provided by the Commission's
Task Force is a key instrument to support growth and jobs in
Greece."
He added:
"The solidarity shown by many member states, the Commission, and
other international institutions is a very encouraging signal for
this country. Let's build a future for Greece together."
According to the report, Greece--with the help of the task force
personnel--has started to better exploit European funds available
to it under various social support programs, an area where the
country has lagged for many years.
Specifically, by the end of 2011 Greece had absorbed 35% of the
EUR20.4 billion of the funds available for the period 2007 to 2013,
exceeding the EU average of 33.5%.
"The absorption of cohesion policy funds has significantly
improved during the second half of 2011. Greece has now absorbed a
higher proportion of cohesion policy fund allocation than the
average recipient member state for this programming period," the
report said.
It also highlighted some improvements in tax administration
where collections of unpaid arrears exceeded targets, albeit on a
very small amount overall. "Since the last quarterly report,
operations have gained traction in the budget, taxation and anti
money laundering fields," the report states.
"2011 figures show some first promising results, for example in
collection of past tax arrears.. EUR946m was collected in tax
arrears compared to an initial target of EUR400 million," it says,
adding that the tax force will now set more ambitious targets for
this year.
Overall, the 36-page report paints a picture of the many
blockages, impediments and contradictory processes that have long
dogged Greece's bureaucracy and have hampered the effective
administration of the state and scared away potential
investors.
-By Alkman Granitsas and Riva Froymovich, Dow Jones Newswires,
+30 210 373 1774; nektaria.stamouli@dowjones.com