“We had an extremely difficult June with drought and high winds,” said Kyriakos Mitsotakis speaking to the cabinet, referring to the fire fronts that recently broke out across the territory.

As he pointed out, “today’s meeting is being held in the middle of the confrontation with the fires, which are testing the country. The state is “present” in hundreds of homes throughout the territory”.

The Prime Minister thanked those fighting the fires, saying, “Thank you to all the frontline workers for the excellent work they did, but I want to draw attention to a summer that it is predicted to be very dangerous”.

At the same time, he also referred to the extension of the deadline for the cleaning of the plots, pointing out that the measure is being applied for the first time in our country. “Over 500,000 plots of land have been declared on the relevant platform,” he said.

He also spoke about historical pathologies that prevent the implementation of reforms, which the government has identified. “Our goal is to speed up ASEP’s procedures but also to speed up the appointments”, the prime minister said. “We have identified the pathogens, complicated processes that do not correspond to the needs. There will be a series of interventions to overcome the obstacles for someone to assume his duties in the State. We want everything to happen faster. The candidates will declare the position they want from the beginning”, Mr. Mitsotakis pointed out, noting that the verification of supporting documents will be done digitally.

Mr. Mitsotakis noted that a successful absorption of the resources of the Development Fund is needed.

The prime minister’s entire opening statement

Ladies and gentlemen, colleagues, good day. Unfortunately, our meeting today is being held in the middle of the confrontation with the fires, which are testing the country again this year. The state is “present” from the first moment in hundreds of outbreaks, throughout the territory, but we had an extremely difficult June in terms of weather conditions, with high drought and unusually high winds for this time.

And I want to start, dear Minister for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, by thanking all the front line staff for the very great work they have done in the last few days, but obviously to draw our attention again to a summer that is predicted to it is extremely dangerous.

But I believe that these days we saw a much better coordination, we saw a very early intervention of the Fire Department, we saw for the first time the great importance of drones for the early detection of fires. I think we saw a better coordination of Police, Local Government and volunteers and I think the result of this effort was that, despite the difficult conditions, the burned areas and damages were limited in relation to the magnitude of the threat.

I searched indicatively for the data from the two very difficult fires in Parnitha and Stamata. In each of the two fires less than 1,000 acres appear to be the acres ultimately burned.

But this battle will obviously last. We are now entering the hard core of the fire fighting season and it will certainly not be won without the assistance of the citizens, especially in the field of prevention.

That is why it was decided by the Ministry of Civil Protection to extend the deadline for cleaning the plots that fall under the provision of the Ministry of Civil Protection. We refer primarily to the plots which are within the plan, within the boundaries of the settlement.

We are extending the deadline for another 15 days, because the forces of the state may be more ready this year, our legal arsenal may be stronger, but nothing – this has been proven in practice – is more useful than early preparation and citizen participation in collective defense against natural hazards.

I want to emphasize that the measure of land clearing is being implemented for the first time in our country in this way. It stands to reason, I would say, that it has shown some initial arrhythmias, but I think even these weaknesses do not diminish their importance at all. More than 500,000 plots of land, for areas of all sizes, have already been declared on the relevant platform. Obviously, our goal is to increase this number even more, even if we are already in the heart of the fire season.

I think that in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior and the Local Government we have initiated the removal of the accumulated branches, especially in the regions of Attica, so that they do not become potential sources of fire.

So, Mr. Minister, you will talk to us and then you will then present us with a little more detailed information, but I emphasize that the difficult things are still ahead of us and obviously this requires the best possible coordination between all the services: the Armed Forces, of the Police, of our Forestry Services. I think that we have indeed made a very significant difference there, with a much better presence of forest officials in the field.

From the first moment I recall, by our own decision the Forestry Services were moved, their responsibility transferred to the Ministry of Environment. And I think that this was an intervention that has already shown substantial results, if we combine it with the important work that has been done at the level of organized prevention by the Ministry, utilizing significant resources from the Recovery Fund.

The Recovery Fund will also be the subject of our meeting today, as Deputy Minister Mr. Papathanasis will present the overall progress of the implementation of the projects financed by the Recovery Fund. As you well know, there are very specific and strict milestones that need to be met, but I think it’s good, at Cabinet level, that you all have an overall picture of the progress of the Recovery Fund processes, so that you know even better the importance of achieving individual milestones for the collective progress of this very important financing tool.

We will also discuss other issues that concern everyday life, after the decision we took on the extraordinary taxation of the refineries in order to support our weakest fellow citizens.

Our focus is on improving critical state functions. We have already had a first substantive meeting with the Ministry of the Interior on the issue that I know concerns you all, which is none other than the acceleration of appointments. I think we have already identified the historical pathologies that still prevent the implementation of reforms, so that they do not become directly visible to the citizen.

We in the Council of Ministers often decide every year on the annual allocation of appointments. In practice, however, this decision, which we all take together, is ultimately undermined by complicated, bureaucratic, largely manual procedures that do not correspond to their needs, nor to their urgent characteristics.

In this context, the Minister and Deputy Minister of the Interior will propose a series of interventions aimed at removing such obstacles. Essentially, that is, phenomena which lead either to the delay of someone assuming his duties in the State, or to not even appearing when the time for his official recruitment arrives.

Our pursuit is simple: to make everything happen much faster. Candidates – I mention only some indicative examples of the interventions that will be made – will declare from the beginning the specific position they are interested in, so that they do not reject it afterwards. Vouchers will be able to be checked digitally, through internal cross-checks and with the support of the co-competent Ministry, responsible for digital reforms.

And of course, everyone interested will be able to do their paperwork and pass the relevant tests, regardless of whether a relevant competition is running at that time. They are important steps in the modernization of ASEP’s procedures.

I emphasize that in this way we are supporting the Supreme Staff Selection Board, which has, I think, proven over the years that it can guarantee the integrity of the procedures. Our aim now, however, is to speed up the relevant procedures, and the initiatives proposed by the Ministry will move in this direction.

I have already spoken about the Recovery Fund, I will share with you just one more thought: the more successful the overall absorption of the Recovery Fund resources, with measurable results that will support development, infrastructure improvement, the creation of quality jobs, the reduction of inequalities, the more our argumentation at the European level will be strengthened that the Recovery Fund should not just be a unique tool that was created after the corona virus, but may also acquire a successor at some point in the future.

But in order to do this, not only Greece, all countries must prove to those who are more “thrifty” with decisions involving the European Union as a whole in the financing of such initiatives, that indeed such initiatives can actually take place.

That’s why I think we all have an obligation to strengthen the work that Mr. Papathanasis is doing, so that we don’t have delays and we implement the reforms and we can be ready for the many milestones that we still have ahead of us.

What was the agenda of the cabinet

  • proposal by the Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance Nikos Papathanasis for the Recovery and Resilience Fund: Absorptions and fifth payment request,
  • presentation by the Minister of the Interior Thodoris Livaniou and Deputy Minister Vivi Charalambogianni of the bill: Acceleration of recruitment procedures by the Supreme Personnel Selection Council, regulations on Local Government Organizations issues, provisions for the organization of land border stations and other provisions,
  • proposal by the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Christos Staikouras regarding the priorities for durable infrastructure and sustainable transport and finally, a proposal by the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Vassilis Kikilia regarding the clearing of land, measures to prevent and deal with forest fires.