Greek Government Research Articles

The Pharmaceutical Policy Reforms in Greece during the Economic Crisis, 2010-2015

In the decade 2000-2009 Greece had the higher rate of public pharmaceutical expenditures as a percentage out of the total public health expenditure and the bigger per capita consumption of public pharmaceutical expenditure among the EU countries. At the end of this decade, Greek governments confronted with this “paradox” and tried to reduce it unsuccessfully. In order to finance its debt, Greece took a financial package of 110 billion € from Troika of the European Commission (EC), European Central Bank (ECB), and International Monetary Fund (IMF) under strict conditions and adopted austere policies designed by Troika all over the public finance sector in order to reduce its debts. Our aim is to provide an overview of new legislation starting from the first memorandum until the first quarter of 2014 and to record the impact of pharmaceutical reforms in all over the pharmaceutical chain. The legislation of this period had the reduction in public pharmaceutical expenditures as a primary endpoint. The new laws focus on new drug pricing policies, profit control regulations, and demand regulations. The economic targets in order to decrease public pharmaceutical expenditures were achieved but not without cost, all the parts in the pharmaceutical chain were affected, especially the last link the patients.

The Ghost of Trials Past: Transitional Justice in Greece, 1974–1975

There were major guidelines in the application of Greek transitional justice in 1974–5. Trials connected with politics had often taken place in Greece: in 1922, 1935 and during the civil war in the 1940s. Justice had often been instrumentalised during previous internal conflicts, mortgaging both the interwar republic and the post-war democracy. The 1974–5 transition followed a different path. According to the internal documents of the Greek government, there was constant care to uphold the rule of law and conform to the emerging international standards concerning human rights. This was seen as a necessary precondition for the establishment of a modern European democracy.

The securitization of the Covid-19 pandemic in Greece: a just or unjust securitization?

The purpose of this article is to assess the justness or unjustness of the securitization of Covid-19 in the Greek case. To do so, the Just Securitization Theory, is used as articulated by Rita Floyd to examine the following research question: Was there a just initiation and just conduct in the case of the securitization of Covid-19 in Greece? To answer this question, the methodology employed is a mix of methods proposed by Rita Floyd, such as the recourse to natural sciences to establish the actuality of the threat in combination with discourse analysis in political and scientific actors’ speech acts and qualitative analysis of legal policy documents. In total, 85 statements and legal documents were examined for the period 26/02/2020 to 15/06/2020 which is considered to be the first “phase” of the pandemic. Overall, the analysis shows that the securitization of the Covid-19 pandemic in Greece was just. More specifically, there was indeed an existential threat, the securitizing actors were sincere in their intentions to securitize Covid-19, whereas the good gained from this securitization (physical survival and protection of public health) was greater than the harm inflicted (suspension of liberties). In addition, the results show that the securitization of Covid-19 in Greece did not cause more insecurity than it aimed to solve and that the overall response from the Greek Government was proportionate to the threat and respectful of the human rights of the people secured by the threat.

ERT 2013

In June 2013, the memorandum Greek government decided to shut down the public radio and television broadcaster, ERT. This is a photographic documentary of the anti-government protests in the courtyard of ERT headquarters, during the occupation of the premises by the majority of employees, trying to keep the voice of public broadcaster alive.

Soil governance in Greece: A snapshot

For thousands of years, soil resources in Greece have been a critical underpinning of local socio-economies. However, soil threats are increasing rapidly, primarily due to human activity and the impacts of climate change. Greek and other European state governments have established legal frameworks to protect soil, but there is a great need for centralization and harmonization with European Law. This chapter highlights the importance of integrated soil governance frameworks that could be applied at the regional or international level while also supporting public engagement and local focus. It also considers the urgent need to address erosion - a major threat to soil resources in Greece that affects local well-being, environmental sustainability and heritage sites.

Neophotistoi and Apostates: Greece and Conversion in the Nineteenth Century

Greek historiography no longer ignores the massacres of non-Christians during the Greek War of Independence, but little thought is given to the fate of those Muslims and Jews that survived or how their presence, as non-Christians or as new converts, impacted the new state, its ideology, structures, policies or laws. This article begins to address this gap and attempts to highlight the seriousness with which Greek governments, both in the revolutionary and post-independence periods, confronted this issue. Using a variety of sources such as wills and dowry contracts, court cases, government records and revolutionary memoirs, the article attempts to show that modern historiography has underestimated the numbers and significance of converts and conversion, and that in this regard Greece and the Ottoman Empire share remarkable similarities in their treatment of conversion, the conflicts it generated, and the use of religion to shore up political weakness. As in the Ottoman Empire, conversion was a thorny issue for the early Greek governments that were trying to establish their legitimacy in the international arena. At the same time it provided opportunities for Greece to assert its influence far beyond its physical capacities, presenting itself as the defender of Orthodox Christians, a role previously monopolised by the Russian Empire.

The Catholic Communities of the Aegean Archipelago during the Greek Revolution, 1821–1830

The Catholics of the Aegean islands represent a rather neglected subject in the story of the Greek War of Independence. As these communities enjoyed a large degree of autonomy from the Sublime Porte, were under French protection and participated in the global network of the Catholic Church, their integration into the Greek state was difficult. The frictions between insurgents and island Latins, the attempts of the Greek government to impose its authority, the efforts of those communities to mobilise their regional and international networks in order to maintain autonomy and their ultimate acceptance of the description “Greeks of the Western Church” attributed to them by the insurgents demonstrates that the making of the Greek nation was an open-ended process, providing valuable insights into the transition from a prenational/extraterritorial conception of sovereignty to a national/territorial one.

Greek Tragedy or Gestation Period: Future of the Modern Church in Greece

Greek Tragedy or Gestation Period: Future of the Modern Church in Greece

From Exception to Extra-Legal Normality: Pushbacks and Racist State Violence against People Crossing the Greek–Turkish Land Border

The Greek–Turkish land border became the site of a border spectacle in March 2020, following the “opening” of the border by the Turkish government and its simultaneous closure by the Greek government. The ensuing violence was legitimated by narratives of exception and racist discourses hinging on the notions of “invasion” and “asymmetrical threats.” Yet, the spectacular and highly mediatized nature of the events of March 2020 hid the embeddedness and longevity of border violence in Evros, the area named after the river that constitutes the land border between Greece and Turkey. Drawing on qualitative research including fieldwork, interviews and document analysis, we focus on the practice of pushbacks as an enduring feature of the local border regime. We argue that pushbacks and other forms of violence should not be conceived merely as human rights violations and therefore aberrations to the laws and values of Europe and its states, but as normalized technologies of border management embedded in the racialized, violent border regimes of liberal states, exemplifying the inherent and unavoidable violence of borders.

A Fiscal Policy Foresight Tax Model, Shadow Economy Reduction, and E-Payment Institutionalization as a Result of Knowledge Management

Foresight is the key for the economy, the business environment, and by extension society and politics to face various risks under conditions of uncertainty, which is becoming the norm as we progress through the 21st century. This paper proposes a wealth-based income tax model with an obligatory electronic transaction legal framework to advance fiscal knowledge management in Greek government. The research was conducted using an online questionnaire that was distributed to Greek tax payers via the snowball method. Linear regression was used to examine the associations between the variables. The research results provide insight into the factors driving the enhancement of tax revenue collection via artificial intelligence software after the widespread adoption of e-transactions. A fiscal tax e-payment reform policy based on an artificially intelligent tax foresight model succeeds in reducing income disparities caused by overtaxing honest taxpayers, thereby shrinking the shadow economy. With the widespread adoption of e-payments and complete digitization of financial transactions, the results of this study can serve as a foundation for the advancement of fiscal knowledge management and compliance with tax behavior. This study emphasizes the importance of planning ahead for taxes and coordinating information in order to reform fiscal policy for the better.

Reconstructing the Greek Summer: the role of the Press for restarting travel and tourism in the Covid-19 pandemic era

The present research focused on exploring the role that the press plays in the recovery procedure of the tourism sector in times of pandemic crisis. Towards achieving this goal, selected sources of the Greek press were in-depth analysed to evaluate Greek Government’s management of the resumption of Greek tourism following the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the summer of year 2020. Content Analysis was applied to the editorial columns of four Greek daily newspapers to examine whether and to what extent the political affiliation of these newspapers influenced their perception of the decision-making process and the management concerning the resumption of tourism by the Greek government. Τhe research further explores the ways these newspapers attempt to reshape government’s narrative towards the restarting of Greek tourism.

Reconciliation in Resignation: The 2015 Greek Referendum on the Lenders’ Conditions

On 5 July 2015, the Greek voters were presented with a referendum on the austeri‐ ty policy that the European institutions demanded Greece should implement. Over 60% answered “No”, a vote that, however, the Greek government of then Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras did not act according to this outcome. The paper argues that the memorandum nonetheless revealed a consensus among the Greeks that their country should remain a member of the eurozone and the European Union. It therefore contributed to a resigned conciliation of contrary societal forces under catastrophic economic conditions. The paper develops this hypothesis by analysing the political and economic circumstances of the referendum and the national re‐ membrance culture which was activated during the referendum’s campaign. In ad‐ dition, possible motives that led to Tsipras’ government proclaiming the referen‐ dum are discussed, especially in the field of party politics. The question of consti‐ tutionality is also discussed, as is the renewed victory of SYRIZA in the parliamen‐ tary elections in September 2015.

Governance in local government organizations and their state-owned enterprises: Impact of merger laws in Greece

Corporate governance plays a key role for the companies of the private sector, and recently corporate governance started to be involved within the structures and activities of public entities and state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Many countries, including Greece, have put regional and municipal merger plans into place in order to reduce costs and enforced the ideals of economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in public administration. This study, focusing on these issues, illustrates the current state of Greek governance and recent legal developments after the merging of local government organizations (LGOs) and their associated municipal and regional-owned companies (SOEs) and provides new insights and conclusions regarding the implantation of governance in the LGOs and their SOEs after mergers

Protection of rights of vulnerable refugee groups: an ethnographic approach and the challenges for their integration in Greek society

Human rights play a critical role in the maintenance of a balanced society and public order. Particularly, the exercise and preservation of human rights protects also vulnerable groups such as refugee women and children. This ethnographic research explores the maintenance or the violation of women and unaccompanied minors' rights in Greek society. The policies are also indicated and the strategies that the Greek Government applies to protect them. This study also examines refugee and asylum-seeking women, girls, and children from another point of view, going through their daily lives in the host country. The enforcement or infringement of their rights in education, in a basic standard of life, in mental health and healthcare, as well as in legal support are the main sections that are elaborated. Certainly, this research takes into account the broader sociopolitical context in Greece and specific Arabic countries and focuses on the refugee's integration.

“The Power of Language”: Young People in Greece as “Scapegoats” in Covid-19 Crisis

Governments around the globe take measures to protect citizens against the coronavirus threat. At the end of the day, security becomes a top priority issue and therefore is included in almost every policy agenda. In light of this, some governments seem to victimize certain social groups when they are incapable of addressing successfully the health crisis of Covid-19. An indicative example is the Greek government’s tactic (New Democracy Party) to blame young people for the spread of the virus, while the real ‘culprit’, according to some (Tziantzi & Papadopoulou, 2020), was the restart of tourist industry that resulted in a sharp rise of the Corona incidents. In doing so, language was the key ‘vehicle’ for this purpose along with statistical numbers, but the latter is a whole different discussion that this paper is not going to open. On the contrary, this paper constitutes a problematization on the usage of language for political reasons. Language is not a neutral tool but plays the games of political elites, while it has the power to create new scapegoats. Is this a wise political choice when Greek society encounters so many problems related to the Covid-19 pandemic? Logical reasoning says no. Will young people be the only exception to this rule? Certainty not, today new scapegoats come into light: citizens who refuse to be vaccinated and/or the sprayed’ ones.

FENER RUM PATRİKHANESİ İLE BATI TRAKYA TÜRK AZINLIĞININ ANALİZİ

The Republic of Turkey about the closure of all private schools that give higher education and do not pass to the state (To the Ministry of National Education) has accepted law in 1971. Although to be clearly stated in the Lausanne Treaty and it allowed staying in Turkey in return for the Patriarchate's non-political activities that was wanted to use the Patriarchate as a tool in foreign policy by the United States of America (USA) against the Russian Orthodox Church begun to follow different political system after World War II. The aim of these works in Istanbul, the first step was to constitute a similar independent Vatican model in İstanbul by taking Patriarchate outside the Turkish legal legislation. On the other hand, Greece sees the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace as a threat to the future of the country, and the Turkish population is tried to be eliminated through forced migration and assimilation. In this study, the Greek Government, on the one hand, wants to bring “ecumenical” to the Patriarchate with privileges and a fait accompli for the Patriarchate, other hands against the Western Thrace Turks, who could not even elect their religious representatives, refrained from giving the gains that Turks gained by the Treaty of Lausanne is subject of this study.

The Role of the Cyprus Issue in the Greek-Soviet Relations (1956-1960)

The article examines the role of the Cyprus issue in the bilateral relations between Greece and the USSR in 1956-1960. It is based on primal archival research realised at the Constantine Karamanlis Archive (AKK) and at the Diplomatic and Historical Archive of the Greek Foreign Ministry (DIAYE) in Athens. The analysis of the recently declassified documents relate to the events which took place in 1954, when the Soviet Union supported the Greek claims for self-determination of the Cypriot people in the United Nations on the basis of the anti-colonial principles. This contributed to the impressive increase in trade between Greece and the USSR, especially after the unofficial visit of the Soviet Foreign Minister D.T. Shepilov to Athens in 1956. Against the backdrop of the deterioration of the international situation in 1957, Kremlin heavily criticized NATOs decision to deploy the US Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles (IRBMs) in Europe and applied diplomatic pressures to NATO member-states including Greece. The shift from tensions to a peaceful offensive strategy, characteristic of the Soviet diplomacy towards Greece, proved to be a double-edged sword for Moscow in the long term. The author concludes that both countries exploited the Cyprus issue for their benefit. Thus, Moscow managed to take advantage of the Greek discontent with the NATO allies as a means of increasing its own prestige in the region, while the Greek governments capitalized on the Soviet tactics in order to increase its political leverage in confronting NATO on Cyprus.

Adjusting the Costing/Pricing Systems of Public Health Units in Times of Emergency Health Crises: The Case of Greece

The aim of this research was to examine the costing / payment system applicable to public hospitals in the period before Covid-19 and compare it with adjustments implemented by the Greek Government because of Covid-19, both in payment methods and in the execution of its budgets. In addition, we tried to record the burden on hospitals with the extra costs caused by Covid-19 and how these affected the regular execution of their budget. Quantitative data were collected from a university hospital, which is one of 13 coronavirus reference centers in Greece. Data were collected from the Finance, Supply and Revenue pricing departments. All Greek hospitals have adopted Closed Consolidated Hospitalization – Diagnosis Related Groups (KEN- DRGs) as the pricing system, based on the Australian DRGs. The findings revealed that, due to the inability of the KEN system to readily adjust to a health crisis and due to a lack of time to adapt to the new circumstances, Greek hospitals were called to implement a per-diem reimbursement system as a Covid-19 case pricing system. It was also found that the hospital, in order to keep providing its services for Covid-19 patients at the same pace, was required to incur a large amount of expenses. According to the results, the reimbursement system of public hospitals in no way reflects the actual Covid-19 costs and a reliable cost accounting system for calculating the actual cost per Covid-19 patient (based on actual costs and hospitalization data) is needed. Additionally, there is an evident and urgent need for optimization of the KEN system and its evolution into a more reliable costing/pricing system, such as that of the DRGs.
 Keywords: health costing, Public Health Units, Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs), budget, health economics, coronavirus (Covid-19)

The intricacies of conditionality: education policy review in Greece 2015–2018

ABSTRACT Drawing on a historical case study, this article focuses on the ways in which the Greek Government (2015–2019), through involving the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), managed to modify the education conditionalities laid down by the third Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) negotiated with the ‘Institutions’ (the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund). Using documentary analysis and interviews with top-ranking national educational policy actors, an empirical account is presented of the prolonged encounter between Greek policy-makers, SAP conditionalities, and the policy work of the OECD. The analysis traces the tensions within and between the positions of national and external policy actors as negotiations moved towards a tactical settlement where all sides achieved partial convergence without reaching principled agreement. It reflects on the relevance of the experience of Greece to understandings of global/national relations in the development of educational policy.

Media events, speech events and propagandistic techniques of legitimation: a multimodal analysis of the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis\u2019 public addresses on the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

The increased information need after the outburst of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has led to the enhanced role of public addresses and press conferences that can broadcast important information simultaneously to a large number of people through a number of different media outlets (TV, radio, internet). Thus, government leaders worldwide have opted for the frequent broadcast of public addresses, reviving the rationale of media events as a way to disseminate their messages concerning the pandemic as widely as possible. The current paper focuses on the Greek case, scrutinizing the public addresses of the Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis in terms of both structural and content characteristics. Through the use of multimodal analysis, we figure out the visual and linguistic characteristics in K. Mitsotakis public addresses. At the same time, we setup a research framework for the qualitative and quantitative examination of similar public addresses in various countries, by combining the theories of media events, propaganda, and linguistic techniques of political legitimization. Our main findings suggest that K. Mitsotakis in his public addresses has made use of direct visual and verbal connections to aspects of “Greekness” in a nation-centric rationale. He relies predominantly on the evocation of positive sentiments and rationalization (as a means of legitimization), in order to achieve political benefits by incorporating the management of the pandemic into the Greek government’s nationalist agenda.