European Commission activates enhanced post-programme surveillance for Greece
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
The European Commission adopted the decision to activate the enhanced surveillance framework for Greece, which will follow the conclusion of Greece’s ESM stability support program as of August 20, the Commission said in a press release on Wednesday.
The decision will “facilitate Greece’s normalization,” the statement said, adding, “It will support the completion, delivery and continued implementation of reforms agreed under the programme, in line with the commitments made by the Greek authorities. This is crucial to building market confidence and thus to strengthening Greece’s economic recovery, particularly in the immediate post-programme period.”
In related statements, Commission Vice resident Valdis Dombrovskis said, “The 20th of August will mark a new beginning for Greece. It is important for the country to continue with prudent fiscal and macroeconomic policies, as well as to complete the agreed reforms.”
The enhanced surveillance “is not a fourth programme: it involves no new commitments or conditions,” Economic Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said. “It is a framework to support the completion and delivery of ongoing reforms. Why is that so important? Because Greece’s recovery is not an event: it is a process.”
The decision follows the agreement reached at the Eurogroup on June 22, which confirmed that Greece had implemented all of the prior actions under the fourth and final review of the programme and decided upon a strong package of debt measures that will allow Greece to once again stand on its own two feet without financial assistance from partners.
“As part of the comprehensive agreement reached at the Eurogroup, the Greek authorities committed to complete the implementation of key reforms agreed under the current programme,” the statement said, adding, “They also made specific policy commitments to finalise a number of key structural reforms already initiated and agreed to the activation of the enhanced surveillance framework.”
This framework provides for quarterly review missions to identify risks and the quarterly reports of the Commission, submitted to the European Parliament, the Greek parliament and the Eurogroup Working Group/Economic and Financial Committee.
Source: AMNA