Reforms on paper only?

The truth is that neither the Greek political system nor society really have what it takes to embrace reform. Every time a change is announced – legislative or otherwise – adverse reactions almost always outweigh the positive ones. Moreover, any important reforms implemented in the past couple of decades signaling essential changes that affected citizens and the operation of the state emerged from difficult and even painful situations, like the economic crisis or the Covid pandemic.

Now in its second term in office, the government has announced a string of reforms in key sectors like education, health, justice and public administration, at a time when new technology is evolving so quickly it now even includes artificial intelligence, making older models of operation in the state apparatus redundant and making change essential and long overdue.

Greece is at risk of losing a lot of money and, with it, many reforms that will benefit the state, society and citizens

We also have the EU Recovery Fund, which has created enormous expectations of millions of euros being channeled into reforms that are crucial for many sectors. After all, funding of this size does not come along every day. For that money to be cashed in, however, the fund has certain demands, most significantly for reforms that should already have been enacted. If they are not implemented by the end of the year, Greece is at risk of losing a lot of that money and, with it, many reforms that will benefit the state, society and citizens.

For example, among the reforms that are required for unlocking funds from the EU are those pertaining to the long-ailing justice system, which is notorious for its sluggish pace, ranking third from the bottom in Europe for the speed at which decisions and verdicts are issued. Vast in number and complexity, the justice reform also includes changes to the judicial map, meaning where courts are located. This is certainly no easy matter. Regardless, the new justice map is a Recovery Fund prerequisite and needs to be enacted now. 

Ultimately, though, the main concern with all the necessary reforms is not whether they will be passed, but whether they will be implemented, whether they will remain on paper, as has been the case, unfortunately, on many, many occasions in the past when laws bringing innovative reforms were ratified but never really applied. And this is where the government’s reform policy will be judged.