By Penelope Galliou

Today has strong symbolism for ministers, but also for citizens convocation of the Council of Ministers by the prime minister at 10 in the morning, wanting to send the message of continuing and promoting government work even in the midst of summer, without delays and procrastinations.

During the meeting, it is expected that an overview of the legislative priorities for the next period will be made, but also that the guidelines will be given by Kyriakos Mitsotakis to his ministers, in order to focus and seek to improve the cooperation between them in order to achieve the best and fastest results, measurable by citizens and for citizens.

Although the Parliament is expected to break its work within the current week, with the MPs rushing to their constituencies or choosing a few days of rest, for the ministers the conditions are stricter, with the Prime Minister expected to recommend them a few days of rest, without there being a pause in their work and giving the impression that the government went on vacation.

After the August fifteenth after all, the ministers should already have their planning and plans ready, in view of the preparation of the speech and any announcements of the prime minister at the TIF. And it may be that Kyriakos Mitsotakis himself ruled out any possibility of concessions in view of the TIF, as is customary during the keynote speech of each prime minister, but the government staff is preparing, albeit conservatively, for the margins that might give a breather to certain social groups.

“If you are talking about a package of benefits, I think I will probably disappoint those who expect that today there is fiscal space to come with a generous package, as an early Santa Claus to distribute money that the state does not have,” he said in Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ recent interview with SKAI outlining his intentions.

After all, the room for maneuver is narrow, with the benefits taking a back seat as the central goal is for the country not to send a signal of fiscal relaxation under any circumstances. This, however, does not mean that the government abandons what has already been announced regarding those policies that will continuously improve the daily life of the citizen, which remains a key priority and despite the budgetary restrictions that also come from Europe, there is a sense of the necessity to a careful processing, so that in the end there are announcements without excesses and exaggerations, but targeted, realistic and meaningful for the citizens.

This targeting and the acceleration of government work will serve -according to government sources- the changes in the General Secretariats of the ministries which were made after the consultation of Megaros Maximos with all the ministers. With a horizon of 2027 and the bold reform program that must be implemented by then, any placements, replacements or movements were decided after evaluating the work that had been done, valuing the contribution of each and every one for a more efficient state at the service of the citizens.

On the agenda of today’s Council of Ministers are the Ministry of Justice bill with the interventions in the Code of Civil Procedure, the Code of Organization of Courts and the Status of Judicial Officers and the Code of Criminal Procedure for the implementation of the new judicial charter. The bill of the Ministry of Environment and Energy for the modernization of waste management. The bill of the Ministry of Digital Governance for the completion of land registration and the proposal of the Minister of State Akis Skertsou regarding the revision of the Action Plans of the Ministries 2024.