Press Review June 17: Payment in kind

Data from the General Confederation of Greek workers shows the shocking state of the labour market; the European Commission is to link structural fund disbursement with the Memorandum; asset seizures without warning for those with unpaid taxes are ruled constitutional; a court decision over military and police wage cuts leaves the government with a 500 million euro hole; and the new Athens - Azerbaijan’s energy ties.

The Press Project
17 Ιουνίου 2014 | 11:39:34

	ΤΑ ΝΕΑ Coupons instead of salaries! Shocking labour market data Wage payment delays of up to 12 months Broad categories of workers are being paid in kind and even with… coupons from their employers. The data from the Labour Institute of GSEE (the General Confederation of Greek Workers) are revealing about the labour market which is characterized by long delays of up to 12 months for the payment of workers’ wages.
	AVGI The Troika veto over European Structural Funds Bank of Greece: The Commission is linking the disbursement of European structural funds (NRSF) with the progress of the adjustment programme The European Commission is rendering the disbursement of structural funds – in addition to the disbursement of the bailout loan tranches – conditional to the faithful implementation of adjustment programmes, which in Greece’s case corresponds to the Memoranda with the quiet acceptance of the Samaras government. As is revealed by a report by the think tank ELIAMEP on behalf of the Bank of Greece, this will be done through the new Directive for the structural funds which states that the European funds for each country ‘are subject to macroeconomic conditionality’, meaning that in the event that the programme is not implemented, they may be cut by way of a fine. The funds which Antonis Samaras continually refers to as a source of the much awaited growth are: 15 billion from the structural funds, 3.9 billion for ‘regional development’ and 300 million for unemployment. Total 19.2 billion euros.
	ELEFTHEROTYPIA Asset seizures for the deserving and not Without warning, with the approval of the Council of State The Council of State recognized the right of the state to proceed with express seizures of wages, pensions and rents, without notice, in order to collect on debts it is owed. The court ruled as constitutional the article of the KEDE (Code for Collection of Public Revenue) regarding the implementation by the state of the measure of forced seizures by third parties (banks, social security funds etc) the moneys owed to it, without sending first a notice of confiscation. The issue affects thousands of households as it opens the way for Finance Ministry agencies to move ahead with seizures of deposits, wages, pensions, rents etc without any prior notice even in the event that they are only a few days late in meeting their excessive tax obligations.
	KATHIMERINI The government must hunt for 500 million euros in equivalent measures The decision by the Council of State which ruled as unconstitutional the cuts in wages of uniformed public sector workers is causing a major headache for the government’s financial leadership. The Finance Ministry must find equivalent fiscal measures worth 500 million euros.
	IMERISIA Azerbaijan a strategic partner in energy Crucial meetings between Ilham Aliyev and the Greek government Both sides believe that the sale of DESFA (the Greek natural gas network operator) to Socar, which the European Commission has delayed indefinitely, will be completed by the autumn. The meetings with the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in Athens took place in a particularly positive climate. Both sides agreed that the role of Greece in the energy market has been significantly strengthened due to the construction of the TAP (Trans Adriatic Pipeline).