Μake us preferred on Google Greek ministers receive the same instruction most Augusts: limit vacation time so government business does not slow down. This year the instruction comes with a fixed deadline. The Recovery and Resilience Facility, the EU program known domestically as the Recovery Fund, closes on August 31, and the government says any outstanding projects and funding milestones need to be resolved before then.
Ministers have accordingly been told to keep their phones and laptops on throughout the month and to be available for video conferences if required.
When will the PM return?
According to government planning, the prime minister’s close circle will hold its first “morning coffee” meeting at Maximos Mansion, the prime minister’s office, on Monday, August 17, with full attendance expected. Officials say the only circumstance in which that group would fall short of quorum is if Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis extends his own vacation by a few days.
At the government’s last full cabinet meeting in late July, held partly on camera, Mitsotakis told ministers that 117 Recovery Fund projects and milestones remained in progress and would be completed on schedule within a month.
An Earlier Start to the Political Season
The government also appears set to move up the traditional start of its political season. Ministers are expected to report on progress in their portfolios at a meeting on August 24. Around the same time, regular opinion polling is expected to resume to gauge public sentiment after the August break and ahead of the Thessaloniki International Fair, where the prime minister traditionally delivers his annual policy address.
The week following August 15, has been set aside for closed door meetings, which the government describes as necessary to restart its work before Mitsotakis travels to Thessaloniki, on August 27. There, he is expected to meet with business and labor representatives and assess the political climate ahead of his speech.
Around the same period, the ruling New Democracy party is planning an event at the Athens Concert Hall to present the government’s record and its plans going forward, described by party officials as part of a strategy to demonstrate ministerial output with the upcoming elections in mind. Party officials and ministers are also being sent from New Democracy’s headquarters to every prefecture in the Macedonia region, both before and after the prime minister’s speech at Thessaloniki’s Vellidio Conference Center, to explain the government’s announcements at the local level.
Three Areas of Preparation
For the remainder of August, the government says it is working on three fronts.
The economic team is finalizing the package of measures to be announced at the Thessaloniki fair, which is expected to focus on the self employed, pensioners and vulnerable groups.
Separately, the deputy prime minister is in discussions with ministers and lawmakers on what the government calls Agenda 2030. Mitsotakis has said he wants the government and the party to present the first outlines of their plans for the next four years sometime in September.
Meanwhile, officials across ministries are holding weekly meetings on completing the Recovery Fund. Nikos Papathanasis, the Alternate Minister of Economy and Finance who is also responsible for coordinating the effort across government, has repeated in nearly every session that no milestone can be certified as complete after August 31.
Source: TA NEA
