K. Mitsotakis is in Parliament for fast track pensions

Of Dimitris Gatsiou

“Despite all these emergencies, we have managed to be very consistent in implementing our reform program. We have reduced labor and income taxes.

We have turned Greece into a more attractive destination for foreign investment… Geopolitically, we have strengthened our alliances. “We put Greece on the map in terms of energy transition. But we also faced other challenges, such as labor reform, education reform, health system reform.”

With this disgust, from the podium of the Delphi Economic Forum, a disgust that has been used, moreover, frequently lately, the Prime Minister continues to point in the direction of project production and reforms.

One such government reform is the issuance of pensions in three months, with an amendment tabled by the Ministry of Labor.

And Mr. Mitsotakis, according to information, is expected to make another intervention today from the floor of Parliament, in order to analyze the goals of the amendment, which are other, as government officials comment, than to end the hostage-taking of the insured. who are often forced to wait years to receive their pension, without having any other resources for their livelihood, apart from the pension advance.

According to the amendment, from now on EFKA will be obliged to issue pensions within three months. To complete, that is, the relevant control within this period.

The reasonable question, of course, is what will be born if this does not happen in that period. In this case, according to factors, the competent services to issue the decision should be based on two facts:

On the one hand in the data contained in the electronic system “ATLAS” for the insurance history of the applicant, on the other hand in the additional data that he has provided for the time of his insurance.

Especially for the applications that have been submitted until March 31, 2022, and are pending until the entry into force of the provision, the pension award document is issued on the basis of the data, which are registered in the information systems of e-EFKA and the declarations of the insured for the recognition of pension time in addition to that resulting from the aforementioned systems.

In this case, the statements are accepted without the need to provide supporting documents. That is why, as government officials explain, the process here will be even faster and will be based on the state’s trust in the insured, with the control of data and supporting documents taking place afterwards.

In fact, in the practice of awarding a pension, it will be stated that the insured are obliged to keep physical documents that may not have been submitted to EFKA for ten years, in order to be able to be presented during the audits.

Continuous messages from Athens to Brussels

In another burning issue of the daily life of the citizens, that of the energy crisis, Athens continues to send messages, at every opportunity, to Brussels on the need for decisions to be taken at the extraordinary Summit of the “27” at the end of May.

Mr. Mitsotakis, after Delphi, rang another… bell for the possibility that the forces of populism will try to recover throughout Europe τώντας by pressing on the difficulties faced by households and businesses in their daily lives. And the reason for the new prime ministerial position was the image of the ballot box in France, after the first Sunday of the presidential elections.

“We need to decouple gas prices from electricity prices and to do that we need European support. If that does not happen, we will have to rely on our national resources, which will, of course, burden our budgets.

But if we do not reach an agreement, it will be a European failure. Because right now, as you can see, in elections in Europe, some forces of populism are being reinforced by the dissatisfaction of the people with the cost of living.

“And these are real and reasonable concerns”, noted Mr. Mitsotakis, receiving at the Maximos Palace the President of the European Investment Bank, Werner Hoger.