Council of State rejects draft decree for Economic Policy Council Secretariat as not legal

Gazzetta team 13 Ιουλίου 2015 - 20:19

The 5th section of the Council of State, Greece's supreme administrative court, on Monday judged a draft presidential decree for setting up and organising a General Secretariat for the Government Economic Policy Council as not meeting legal requirements.

The draft decree, which had been tabled by government Vice-President Yiannis Dragasakis and Alternate Finance Minister Dimitris Mardas, had been submitted to the CoS for legal evaluation. The secretariat was designed to support the work of the Government Economic Policy Council created by an act of cabinet on February 6.

The court found that the cost of the secretariat (with an estimated annual budget of 829,000 euros annually and creation of 12 public-sector positions) had not been shown to be compatible with the goals and commitments of the Medium-Term Fiscal Strategy. Merely stating that the cost would be covered by the budget was not sufficient, it pointed out, while the reference to transferring the amounts needed from finance ministry reserves "automatically rendered the plan not legal."

It noted that in conditions of emergency fiscal and economic conditions in the country, the creation of new permanent public-sector positions by presidential decree can only be permitted on condition that it seeks to cover an urgent need that cannot be satisfied in another way, such as reorganisation of services and redistribution of staff.