Commission on growth and jobs for Greece

18 April 2012

According to the Commission, agreement on the Second Programme and the recent reduction of Greek debt owed to private sector provide an opportunity to create a new dynamic to speed up the badly needed structural reforms.

Efforts made since 2010 in improving growth and employment prospects should yield results in the near future. The Commission has decided to issue this Communication because now, after many months of uncertainty, the main framework for economic recovery in Greece is in place. Agreement on the Second Programme and the recent reduction of Greek debt owed to private sector provide an opportunity to create a new dynamic to speed up the badly needed structural reforms.

This Communication is fully in line with the policy commitments agreed between Greece and the Troika and enshrined in the MoU of the new Programme. While the latter must be delivered in full, the Commission highlights in this Communication three broad areas where action taken by the Greek authorities during 2012 can be expected to show promising results by the end of 2012. These are:

• getting public finances and revenues under control so that public finances become sustainable over time;
• getting lending flowing to the real economy by recapitalising the banks and helping SMEs to get affordable loans;
• freeing business to drive growth. A major overhaul of the business environment and labour market is urgently needed so that Greece becomes once again a place where domestic and foreign investors have confidence to invest and create jobs. Reform of the public administration and effective use of the EU Structural Funds, for instance for large infrastructure projects, are also priorities in this context.

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