Brussels, 12/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 12 May, the Council of the EU adopted the recommendations of the European Court of Auditors to improve technical assistance to Greece.
The member states welcome the proposals of the Court of Auditors to “categorise the technical assistance measures in order of priority” and to “focus the technical support on reinforcing the capacity of the national administrations in order to obtain lasting results”, in conclusions they adopted on the sidelines of the 'Development' Council. They stress that the technical assistance coordinated by the task force for Greece of the European Commission should be “based on a strategy defining the responsibilities of the parties and come with clearly defined objectives”.
The task force for Greece, which was set up in 2011, has since then been converted into a cross-cutting structural reform support service, which has been up and running since July 2015.
According to the report of the EU auditors, the task force for Greece has, admittedly, had some influence on the major reforms implemented by Athens, but its support to the Greek authorities has ultimately proven to be somewhat effective, with a certain degree of innovation (see EUROPE 11491). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)