The European Commission ( EU) today published its annual progress report on the rule of law in all EU countries. For Greece, the Commission identifies steps forward in the independence of the judiciary and makes four recommendations to improve the rule of law in the country.
Overall, with regard to the recommendations of the Rule of Law Report 2023, the Commission stresses that Greece has "fully implemented the recommendation to address the need to involve the judiciary in the appointment of the President and Vice-President of the Council of State, the Supreme Court and the Court of Auditors, taking into account European standards for the appointment of judges".
In addition, "some further progress" is recorded in terms of intensifying efforts to establish a solid and reliable basis with a track record of convictions and final judgments in corruption cases, including cases of grand corruption at the felony level.
There has also been "some further progress" in the process of adopting non-legislative safeguards and a lot of progress in starting the legislative process to protect journalists. This builds on the work that the Task Force started, especially when it comes to abusive lawsuits against journalists and their safety, in line with the Memorandum of Understanding that was signed and taking European standards for journalist protection into account.
The Commission reports that "some progress" has been made in ensuring effective and timely consultation in practice with stakeholders on draft legislation, including by providing sufficient time for public consultation. In addition, "some further progress" has been made in taking further steps to evaluate the current registration system for civil society organisations, including by launching a structured dialogue with civil society organizations and assessing whether there is a need to amend it.
On this basis, taking into account other developments that have taken place during the reporting period, and in addition to recalling the relevant commitments made in the Recovery and Resilience Plan, the European Commission makes four recommendations to Greece:
First , continue efforts to establish a solid and reliable track record of convictions and final judgements in corruption cases, including cases of grand corruption at the felony level.
Second, make further progress with the process of establishing legislative and non-legislative safeguards to improve the protection of journalists, in particular as regards abusive lawsuits against journalists and their safety, in line with the adopted Memorandum of Understanding and taking into account European standards for the protection of journalists.
Thirdly, intensify efforts to ensure effective and timely consultation in practice with stakeholders on draft legislation, including by respecting the established timetable for public consultation.
Fourth, strengthen efforts to assess the current legal framework for the registration system for civil society organisations and evaluate the need to amend it while engaging in a structured dialogue with civil society organisations.
