Commission report set to trigger next round of debt relief for Greece

The European Commission has presented its eighth enhanced surveillance report for Greece assessing the implementation of the country’s commitments to the Eurogroup regarding reform completion up to mid-2020.

The report notes that “in spite of the adverse circumstances caused by the pandemic, Greece has taken the necessary actions to achieve its due specific commitments.”

According to the report, unprecedented events stemming from the Covid-19 outbreak have led to a sharp economic downturn and to a standstill, in the first half of 2020, on a number of reforms as the country’s conservative government had to deal with more immediate priorities.

“Nonetheless, the authorities managed to restart the work on the commitments in the past months and delivered on a number of fundamental reforms,” the report says.

The European institutions welcome the close and constructive engagement in all areas and encourage the Greek authorities to keep up the momentum and, where necessary, reinforce the efforts to quickly complete the implementation of recently adopted primary legislation, primarily with regards to financial sector reforms.

The report is expected to lead to an approval of the release of the next set of policy-contingent debt relief measures worth €767 million by the Eurogroup on November 30.