The politically charged issue of social security reform in Greece is apparently returning to the agenda of negotiations between the leftist Greek government and institutional creditors, a particularly painful development in light of repeated pension cuts since the advent of the crisis in 2010.
A document forwarded by Eurogroup chair Jeroen Dijsselbloem, ahead of a scheduled meeting on Nov. 7, generated the reports on Tuesday. The Dutch finance minister said that reforms in Greece’s social security sector and liberalization of the labor market will dominate talks in Athens between the Greek side and creditors’ representatives between Nov. 14 and Nov. 21.
The Dijsselbloem document comes in the face of assurances by the leftist Greek government that reforms, mostly cuts in monthly pensions, are concluded, dating back to May 2016.
In terms of the Greek debt issue, the Eurogroup chairman said talks are continuing over «technical details» dealing with short-term measures, such as extending the maturity of EFSF loans extended to Greece; lowering interest rate costs and even postponing a scheduled increase in interest rates for another portion of bailout loans.
In light of the report, which was first circulated by the state-run ERT broadcaster, Labor and Social SEcurity Minister Giorgos Katrougalos merely reiterated that the «social insurance issue is closed». He also said the Dijsselbloem letter refers to the «monitoring of the law’s implementation and the operation of the unified entity for social insurance.»
