Olly Rehn on Greece

On Greece, I want to welcome the political agreement reached this evening on the third programme review. I want to thank our Greek partners, the ECB and IMF mission teams and our own people for very smooth work, day and night, which facilitated the agreement, despite the recent political turbulence, which did not make it any easier.

The political agreement has been made possible by the steps forward that have been taken in recent weeks, not least the completion of the process of bank recapitalisation in Greece. This should allow for liquidity to begin to flow back into the real economy and help to relieve the very tight credit conditions affecting small businesses and households.

At the same time, the Eurogroup has been very clear that in many areas we need to see more determined implementation of measures needed to boost competitiveness and investment, and to accelerate recovery and job creation.

That means stepping up the reform of the tax administration, to boost its efficiency and autonomy. This is not only about increasing fiscal revenues, it is also about social fairness.

It also means seeing through the modernisation of the public sector as a whole. Again, this is not only about cost savings: it is about creating a more efficient civil service that is geared to serving the needs of citizens and businesses.

And it means freeing up markets in goods and services. The adjustment process has not yet translated into lower prices for consumers, because obstacles persist to a properly functioning market in too many sectors, including energy and transport, as well as professional services. It is the Greek people who are paying this price. This is why it is essential that the Greek government takes effective steps to boost competition, which will lower prices, as well as create new opportunities for investment and employment, especially for Greece’s young people. On this point, we are working to support the authorities in their efforts to provide targeted employment and training programmes, and to give access to primary healthcare for the uninsured.

In short, it is time to step up the momentum of reform in Greece, to support the return of confidence for the sake of growth and job creation.

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