Executive State (Greece)

The first page of the Greek Government Gazette A 133/07.08.2019 with the Law 4622/2019 for the Executive State
The first page of the Greek Government Gazette Α 236/28.11.2020 including the Presidential Decree No. 98, with which the Presidency of the Government was established

The Executive State (Greek: Επιτελικό Κράτος, romanized: Epiteliko Kratos) is a governance system of the Hellenic Republic established by the First Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis in August 2019 with the Law 4622/2019 (Greek: Νόμος 4622/2019), the first to be validated during that Parliamentary Period.[1][2][3]

Ιn Greece and abroad, the Law 4622/2019, subtitled "Executive State: organisation, operation and transparency of the Government, government bodies and central public administration", is also referred to as the "Executive State" Law.[1][4]

Description

Presidency of the Government

The Executive State is a centralised governance system,[5][6] characterised by the establishment of "the Presidency of the Government", an autonomous public service with approximately 440 personnel (340 permanent and 100 nonpermanent positions), whose formation cost was declared by the government to be 184,800 euros in 2020.[α][8] The Presidency of the Government is controlled by the Prime Minister and consists of a group of Secretariats:[9][10][11]

  • General Secretariat of the Prime Minister
  • General Secretariat of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs
  • General Secretariat for Coordination
  • Special Secretariat for an Integrated Information System of Monitoring and Evaluating Governmental Action
  • General Secretariat of Communication and Information

With the Presidential Decree No. 19 published at the Greek Government Gazette Α 54/14-3-2022 in March 2022, the Special Secretariat for an I.I.S. of Monitoring and Evaluating Governmental Action was discontinued and the Special Secretariat of Foresight replaced it.[12]

ERT, AMNA, EYP

Most notably, with the Law 4622/2019 the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (AMNA) and the National Intelligence Service (EYP) were passed under direct control of the Presidency of the Government, whose head is the Prime Minister. More specifically, the General Secretariat of Communication and Information was given the supervision of the ERT and AMNA[13] and the National Intelligence Service came under the sole control of the Presidency of the Government.[9]

National Transparency Authority

The Law 4622/2019 also included the establishment of an Independent Authority named the "National Transparency Authority", which incorporated five formerly separate auditing departments and an anti-corruption body, with the aim of tackling corruption and ensuring transparency and accountability throughout public life.[14]

Inter-ministerial personnel

With the Law's article 104, provision was made for a group of inter-ministerial employees specialising in Public Policy Analysis, Legislative affairs, and Digital Policy Analysis.[15]

Notes

  1. ^ This sum differs from the Presidency of the Government budget; for example, in 2021 the PoG budget was 31,251,000 euros[7]

References

  1. ^ a b Presidency of the Hellenic Republic, Hellenic Statistical Authority, GREECE, Voluntary National Review 2022, On the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, p. 13
  2. ^ Mousmouti, Maria (2020-12-10). Karpen, Ulrich; Xanthaki, Helen (eds.). Legislation in Europe: A Country by Country Guide. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 222. ISBN 978-1-5099-2469-1.
  3. ^ Konstandaras, Nikos (2022-01-28). "The 'Executive State' and its enemies | eKathimerini.com". www.ekathimerini.com. Retrieved 2023-09-19.
  4. ^ European Commission, COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT, 2020 Rule of Law Report Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Greece, pp. 8, 10-11
  5. ^ Mandravelis, Paschos (2023-05-27). "Operational slip-up | eKathimerini.com". www.ekathimerini.com. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  6. ^ Walker, Marcus (2023-05-19). "Greece's Leader Faces Elections Amid Rule-of-Law Concerns". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  7. ^ Ministry of National Economy and Finance (Greece) (November 2020). "Greek Government Budget 2021". www.minfin.gr. Άρθρο 2 (Article 2). Retrieved 2023-09-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  8. ^ Government Gazette (Greece), Issue 236 (November 28, 2020), Presidential Decree No. 98 (in Greek), pp. 11433, 11444
  9. ^ a b Government Gazette (Greece), Issue 236 (November 28, 2020), Presidential Decree No. 98 (in Greek), pp. 11433
  10. ^ OECD (2020-07-22). OECD Economic Surveys: Greece 2020. OECD Publishing. p. 50. ISBN 978-92-64-91352-3.
  11. ^ Poorter, Jurgen de; Schyff, Gerhard van der; Stremler, Maarten; Visser, Maartje De (2022-06-06). European Yearbook of Constitutional Law 2021: Constitutional Advice. Springer Nature. p. 123. ISBN 978-94-6265-535-5.
  12. ^ Government Gazette (Greece), 54/Α/14-3-2022 (March 14, 2022), Presidential Decree No. 19 (in Greek), Άρθρο 4 (Article 4)
  13. ^ Government Gazette (Greece), Issue 236 (November 28, 2020), Presidential Decree No. 98 (in Greek), p. 11441
  14. ^ Presidency of the Hellenic Republic, Hellenic Statistical Authority, GREECE, Voluntary National Review 2022, On the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, p. 161
  15. ^ "Νόμος 4622/2019 - Βικιθήκη (Law 4622/2019 - Greek Wikisource)". el.wikisource.org (in Greek). Άρθρο 104 (Article 104). Retrieved 2023-09-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)