Greece is expected to get the green light from the June 16th meeting of the Eurogroup in order to exit the strict post-bailout monitoring and return to “European normalcy.”
The political approval of the so-called enhanced surveillance process, which should materialize on August 21st, when the current status officially expires, marks the official end of the memorandum period for Greece.
Greece will still be monitored by the EU institutions until 2059 when the country is estimated to repay 75 percent of the loans it received under the memoranda.
Until then, Greece will go through a simple post-program monitoring phase, as is the case with Ireland, Spain, Cyprus, and Portugal, and a biannual evaluation—rather than a quarterly evaluation as has been the case thus far.
The Eurogroup’s approval for Greece’s exit from the status of enhanced surveillance will activate the disbursement of a 748-million-euro installment.
At the same time, the “road map” of the prerequisites will be finalized. This purported road map will then have to be implemented in two phases, one by August and one by the end of October.
EU says Greece’s goals were met despite difficult conditions
On May 23rd, the European Commission adopted the fourteenth enhanced surveillance report for Greece, assessing the country’s progress with respect to policy commitments specified at the Eurogroup in June 2018.
The report acknowledged that Greece had taken the necessary steps to reach the agreed commitments despite the difficult conditions caused by the economic consequences of the new pandemic waves and the Russian invasion to Ukraine.
“Based on our assessments and the successful implementation of the reforms by Greece, the Commission may not extend the enhanced surveillance status after its expiration in August,” Commissioner of Economy Paolo Gentiloni said at the time of the presentation of the report.
Decisions for the remaining disbursements to Greece from the Greek debt relief measures will be taken by the Eurogroup, the Commissioner added.
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