Brussels, 16/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 16 March, the head of the European Commission taskforce on Greece, Horst Reichenbach, said that the taskforce's work was starting to pay off. Unveiling the second taskforce quarterly report, he said that over the past six months, progress had been seen in structural reforms and better assimilation of EU funding. The EU funding absorption rate was initially valued at 35%, but a further 5% has been added this month, raising it to 40.6%, which is not bad compared with the European average of 33.5%. Reichenbach admitted that there were many problems to be dealt with and more projects awaiting funding than cash available, but there was a solution to this, in that if programmes are not carried out, then the funding will simply be available for other projects.
Another big question is funding for small business. Reichenbach said that the EU was providing €2 billion in aid, and a further €2 billion was available in the form of loans from the EU and banks. Big infrastructure projects in energy and transport need to go ahead. Reichenbach is confident in the potential of motorway contracts, which need to be revitalised. He hoped the member states and the Parliament, which are working on a risk-sharing strategy, would allow it to be used in May. Reichenbach is optimistic that the €400 million target for tax arrears collection has been beaten, with some €546 million collected. He says that more can be done to change the way government operates, particularly e-government, by making use of financial experts and human resources. The public healthcare system can cut the cost of medicines and hospitals. All these avenues need to be explored so that Greece can fly with its own wings again, he said, pointing out that this was the taskforce's ultimate objective, although there remains a colossal amount of work to be done. (MD/transl.fl)