On Wednesday, 3 April, the European Commission published an updated second Enhanced Surveillance Report for Greece in which it assessed that the Greek authorities had taken the actions required to benefit from the release of a new tranche of aid worth €1 billion.
This latest assessment follows publication at the end of February of the second initial Enhanced Surveillance Report, which the Greek government has been subject to since its period under financial supervision ended in August 2018 (see EUROPE 12203/1, 12077/1).
The issue in this updated report relates to the decision that may be made by Eurogroup on Friday, 5 April to give its agreement to the release of a new tranche of aid worth approximately €1 billion (see EUROPE 12226/8). This tranche matches the profits made by the European Central Bank (ECB) and the national central banks as part of the SMP and ANFA operations to repurchase Greek public debt during the sovereign debt crisis, and the abolition of interest rate margins on debt repurchase tranches.
This aid was agreed last June at the Eurogroup meeting marking Greece’s exit from the third and final rescue plan (see EUROPE 12046/1), and was partly conditional on implementation of reforms in Greece.
The second initial report pointed to the need to adopt measures to implement the reforms, including implementation of a new system for recording primary residences. In today's report, the Commission notes that the Vouli, Greece’s unicameral Parliament, has adopted the primary legislation in this area, and is expected to adopt the secondary legislation in the near future.
“The contents of the enhanced surveillance report of 27 February 2019 and this subsequent update could be used by the Eurogroup to agree on the release” of the tranche of aid in question, the Commission notes. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)