Dear Prime Minister,It was a great pleasure to meet with you on
29 February to discuss in very concrete terms theimplementation of
the second programm e for Greece which we both see as a comprehen
siveprogramme for structural reform which will lay the foundations
for a new, competitive anddynamic Greece. s my co lleagues and I
underlined at our meeting, the Commission is readyto support the G
reek authorities in taking decisions that can restore confidence
and begin theprocess of revitalising the Greek economy.As we
discussed, there are a variety of steps that should be taken right
away to improve thebusiness environment; to support small
businesses and young people; and to remove thebottlenecks in public
administration and the financial system that are preventing
thestructural funds from flowing to where they are needed, holding
back growth and jobcreation. The European Com mission has already
paid more than 8 billion of the 20 billionallocated to G reece
since 2007 through the EU structural funds. We are keen to help
yourauthorities target the remaining funds on stimulating growth a
nd comp etitiveness. For no w,there is no shortage of funds but as
we discussed there are still too ma ny open questions
andadministrative hurdles to be overcom e before the available
funds can reach the real economy.In priority areas we n eed to
identify where the bottlenecks are and decide on how to removethem
within a clear timeframe. This often has to be done top down which
is why I amprepared to work in partnership with you to get things
moving. As immediate follow up to ourmeeting I would like to
propose that our officials work together o n the following
priorityareas:- Working with the EIB, EIF and ETEAN to unblock the
650 million available for SMEsupport to provide much-need ed
liquidity and risk coverage for rapid use over the next 3years in
favour of small businesses, based on the understanding that the EIB
Presidenthas agreed to a leverage ratio of 2:1 a s regards
liquidity. Also working inside the Greeksystem to u nblock the
funds that have already been provided to the banking system for
onlending to SMEs.- Securing a rapid agreement in the Council and
Parliament on the Risk SharingInstrument to suppo rt critical
infrastructure projects. Since we expect a positive decisionyour
authorities should continue their preparatory work so that an
agreem ent withconcessionaires and banL can be reached, within the
shortest delays, on the necessaryrestructuring of the motorway
concessions to ensure their economic viability. On yourside, the
identification of the funding sources for the risk sharing
instrument is now amatter of great urgency. Moreover, our
respective services should step up work on theimplementation m
odalities with the EIB so we ha ve clarity on priority projects,
inparticular the motorway con cessions within the shortest
delays.His Excellency Mr Lucas P apademosPrime MinisterGreece
8/2/2019 Letter to PM Papademos
2/2
- Using the European Social Fund and reprogramm ing funds where
necessary to help setyoune people back to work The findings of the
recent visit of our Action Team need to befollowed up rapidly. This
should include actions improving training and work
experienceopportunities, possibilities to com bine training w ith
work and strengthening m obility.- Identifying concrete ways to
support the privatisation programm e, for example throughclose
cooperation on state aid and other regulatory aspects and through
technicalassistance where it is needed.
Pursuing Greece's advantages in the energy sector through
further work on promisingrenewable energy projects such as
"Helios", the creation of a more open and com petitiveenergy market
and the promotion of Greece as a gas hub.- Finding ways to
accelerate the absorption of EU funds and to maximise their impact
onthe real economy. We discussed greater centralisation and there
may be other ways tostreamline too.To give these measures real mom
entum, propose that the Task Force representatives meet inAthens
with officials designated by you to work, jointly with other
relevant Commissionservices, specifically on these issues and to
report back to us by 28 March with clearrecommendations on actions
to be taken under each heading, identification of who isrespon
sible for acting and with a timeline for the resolution of the
problems identified.I look orward to receiving your reactions and
support for this follow up to our meeting.
