Greece made significant progress in improving its rule of law, says annual EU report
Specifically, Greece made significant progress in following recommendations in these areas:
- Ensuring the effective and systematic verification of the accuracy of asset disclosures filed by all types of public officials
- Increasing efforts to establish a robust track record of prosecutions and final judgments in corruption cases
- Ensuring that registration requirements for civil society organisations are proportionate in view of maintaining an open framework for them to operate
- Establishing safeguards to improve the working conditions and physical safety of journalists, although legislative safeguards are yet to be established, taking into account European standards on journalists' protection.
One area Greece made little progress, the report said, is in addressing the need for involvement of the judiciary in the appointment of the president and vice-president of the Council of State, the Supreme Court and the Court of Audit, by taking into account European standards on judicial appointments.
Minister's reaction
Justice Minister Giorgos Floridis welcomed the European Commission's report on Wednesday. .
In a statement, Floridis said that the report "expresses the government's willingness to face challenges noted by the report," particularly focusing on the need to improve the speed by which courts try a case and reach a verdict.
The latter, Floridis said, "is already being implemented with reforms and investments in justice, in the framework of growth plan 'Greece 2.0', through digital governance, the new judicial map of Greece, and the training, evaluation and boosting of human resources in justice."
