The National Benefit and Aid Register is a tool for the exercise of a more effective social policy by posting on Linkedin by the Deputy Prime Minister Kostis Hatzidakis.

“Today I want to talk to you about something that has not been particularly concerned with public debate these days, but it is, but it is a powerful tool in our efforts for meaningful social policy. This is the National Benefit and Aid Register, a reform we planned while I was Minister of National Economy and Finance and is voted on tomorrow in Parliament.

The National Benefit and Aid Register will be a measurable reform reform: the state will acquire a comprehensive picture of all kinds of benefits received by citizens. It will thus be, among other things, in time detecting the “cunning” who receive benefits and benefits without being entitled to them. At the same time, thanks to the complete picture we will have, we will be able to develop policies that more targeted those fellow citizens who really need it.

A “x -ray” of benefits, benefits and aid

Today the information on the benefits, benefits and aids received by citizens is scattered in many different public registries, which most of the time do not “communicate” with each other. In the new register, basic elements of benefits will be kept in money and in kind, paid to every natural person including those who do business. At the same time, all the information of the dozens of public registers on benefits will gather there. For the first time, the state will immediately know what it offers to citizens, regardless of the source of benefit and with the criteria that it wishes to do this review. At the same time, thanks to this digital reform, even faster and effective controls can be made and cases of abuse can be found.

Targeted social policy for those in need

Today the state has no immediate, at all times, a picture of its benefits. In particular, in order to produce information to a more detailed grade, it will have to collect data from different bodies and coordinate a whole work that is doubtful how immediate it will give results. But when you want to develop a new social policy or evaluate an existing one, this must be done quickly and with reliable data, which are collected by a common methodology. We are not discussing how feasible this is today, if it wants to draw overall conclusions from the origins it makes, based on social, geographical, demographic and other criteria. Utilizing the new National Benefits and Aid Register, the Ministry of National Economy and Finance will be able to effectively and immediately produce such reports.

Awarding the benefits with greater speed

The new register will be another tool that can help to accelerate the award of specific benefits. And this is because, today, in order for the administration to find that the conditions for the award of a benefit may, it may need to communicate with other organizations who should look for their registries. For example, the granting of the uninsured elderly allowance is a prerequisite for the absence of a pension. Instead of needing OPECA to communicate with EFKA, all information will now be available for control through the benefits and aid register. This means less weights for administration on the one hand and faster for citizens.

Subsequent steps

The pilot implementation of the National Benefits and Aid Register will begin in 2025, with the social and basic, benefits of the Ministry of National Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family, the DBA and OPECA. Gradually, however, the register will extend to all benefits, with interoperability and automatic updates.

The National Benefit and Aid Register is an intervention that improves state functioning. And at the same time it has a socially lawful character. I’m glad I contributed to this effort. And I’m sure it will go reluctantly! ”