The weaknesses of the contemporary Greek Beaurocracy

The Greek bureaucracy is relatively large in size but remains largely inefficient and weak compared to political parties which have alternated in power since the fall of the colonels' regime. The inflated nature of the Greek bureaucracy and of the central government is indicated by a few statistical figures. The size of the Greek cabinet rose from 32 ministers in 1973 to 57 in 1988.

According to OECD data, government expenditure as percentage of the GDP rose spectacularly from 21 percent in 1976 to 51 percent in 1988 and public sector employment as percentage of total employment increased from 8.5 percent to 10.1 percent in the same period. However, according to another estimate by Tsoucalas, which applies to the period of PASOK in power, the number of civil servants increased by 21 percent between 1981 and 1989.

OECD Calls For "Big Bang" Reform Of Greek Bureaucracy

DECEMBER 8, 2011 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Comprehensive and urgent reform of the Greek government's central administration is needed if efforts to turn the country's economic fortunes around are to be successful, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Thursday.

In an unusually hard-hitting report, the OECD detailed the many deficiencies in the public administration that make it difficult to implement wider reforms to the public sector and the economy, and control spending.

It concluded that the coordination between ministries is almost non-existent, while the structure of the public administration encourages corruption. Basic record keeping is absent, while it has proven impossible to monitor expenditure, the OECD said.

Rebranding Greece by Peter Economides

A very inspiring lecture and a new perspective..... We are a very important nation...Lets not forget that....And something else I want to mention...Be proud of being a Hellene....

MarKy GRW Consulting Service

Ο Χατζημαρκάκης προειδοποιεί για ευρωπαϊκή τραγωδία

Δευτέρα, 06 Φεβρουαρίου 2012

Η Ελλάδα χρειάζεται αλλαγή πολιτικού σκηνικού, νέο Σύνταγμα και νέα εικόνα στον κόσμο που θα ξεκινήσει από την ενιαία ονομασία της χώρας ως «Ελλάς» σε όλες τις χώρες του κόσμου, τονίζει με δηλώσεις του o Γιώργος Χατζημαρκάκης, που δημοσιεύθηκαν το Σάββατο στη Γερμανική Bild και αναμεταδόθηκαν απ’ όλα τα μεγάλα γερμανικά ΜΜΕ.  

Ο ευρωβουλευτής του FDP μίλησε ακόμα για τον κίνδυνο κοινωνικών συγκρούσεων που υπάρχει στη χώρα από τη φτωχοποίηση και προειδοποιεί τη Γερμανία ότι το πρόβλημα στην Ελλάδα, αν δεν υπάρξει οικονομική ανάπτυξη και νέες θέσεις εργασίας, θα μετατραπεί σε μια ευρωπαϊκή τραγωδία.
Το κείμενο (σε ελεύθερη μετάφραση) αναφέρει: Ο Γιώργος Χατζημαρκάκης είναι ο «ειδικός» στη Γερμανία για την Ελλάδα από τότε ξέσπασε η κρίση και υπερασπίζεται τη δεύτερη πατρίδα του απέναντι στην κριτική που ασκείται στη Γερμανία. Αλλά επειδή η κρίση δεν σταματά, επειδή πάντα χειροτερεύει, ο Χατζημαρκάκης λέει πως πρέπει να αλλάξει το πολιτικό σύστημα στη χώρα.
Σε μια συνέντευξη στη BILD.de προτείνει ακόμα μια μετονομασία της χώρας. Η Ελλάδα (Griechenland) δεν πρέπει πλέον να  ονομάζεται έτσι!Ο πολιτικός προειδοποίησε ακόμα για πτώχευση της χώρας στο πρότυπο της Δημοκρατίας της Βαϊμάρης, ενώ μιλά ακόμη και για «πόλεμο για τα τρόφιμα».

GREEK BUREAUCRACY

Living in Greece may seem like a dream, but when it comes to the time for paperwork and bureaucracy, it will turn into a nightmare, all the more so when you do not speak the language.

Public services will send you back and forth from service to service, department to department etc.. I try to gather up as much information as possible to make all the paperwork easier for those who apprach me and need my assistance. The most required documents in Greece are your passport, a translated version of your birth certificate and when copies of it is needed it should be verified by a lawyer, Police department or KEP accompanied by the original document, marriage certificate and a family status (a paper declaring whether you are married or single, with children or without, how many children and when they were born) and residence permit - if applicable.  

The main thing that you should bear in mind when dealing with Greek bureaucracy is that you should never ever give an original paper to any service, instead you must make a photocopy of the requested document and take it to the nearest police station or KEP office (citizen's advice bureau) in order for the photocopy to be stamped as an exact copy. If you photocopy the document it is once again useless without the required stamp on it.

The actual legal processes make you want to tear your hair out and even if you have a lot of hair, Greek bureaucracy has so many little convoluted sub-clauses, stamps, departments, papers, wrong papers - go back to start and impossible people, that even the most hirsute of heads may be rendered as bald as a baby's behind by the time you're done. The best way is to approach services like this one and I can assure you that it will help you understand the big picture without having unanswered questions.


One thing though is that they appreciate kindness..not too much, but to a certain level and always know the exact name of the document required, because it annoys them if you don't know what you are asking for.


You might find it difficult, but it is also a challange. Try and see it from a positive side and don't be judgemental.The truth is that most of these public servants deal with so much paper work that it is reasonable for them to get upset....


Will be back with more tips and ideas.... MarKy GRW Consulting Services

Don't gloat at Europe, says Turkey-based Greek Academic

SUNDAY, 04 DECEMBER 2011 20:29  BARÇIN YINANÇ - THE BALKAN CHRONICLE

Some Turks have expressed a touch of smugness about the European Union's current economic malaise, but such misplaced joy is improper, according to Turkey-based Greek academic Dimitris Tsarouhas. "It is not in the interest of Turkey to gloat about the EU crisis – the EU still remains the safest market for Turkey," says Tsarouhas.

Turks should not gloat at Europe's economic woes, according to a Greek aca

demic based in Turkey.

There is a degree of Schadenfreude among some Turks, said Dimitris Tsarouhas, who teaches at Bilkent University in Ankara. "Europe is on a downturn and Turkey is on an upturn. But things can change really fast."

Greek Citizens drowning in Debt, Politicians swimming in cash

SUNDAY, 25 DECEMBER 2011 16:51

PUBLISHER - THE BALKAN CHronicle

Greece may be drowning in debt, however the political elite seems to be doing much better than everyone else. This perhaps isn't very surprising considering the fact Greece has been run by few political dynasties (families) for the past 60 years.

While ordinary Greeks are relocating for good (even to China's Hong Kong), MINA's research shows every single Greek politician has at least 200,000 euros in bank accounts

Taxing the diaspora

by Kathy Tzilivakis 22 Jan 2012

SHOULD Greeks abroad be taxed? This was the question discussed b y Alternate Finance Minister Pantelis Economou and Olga Sarantopoulos, secretary of the World Council of Greeks Abroad (SAE), in Athens last week.  Sarantopoulos had sent a letter to Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos in October calling on the government to exempt Greeks abroad from having to pay any of the new taxes.  According to the SAE secretary, Greeks abroad are the country’s biggest international assets: “They have repeatedly voiced their wish to help their home country exit this terrible financial crisis in any

Modern Greek Bureaucracy

A Short Historical Background  Modern Greek bureaucracy, which is characterized by this sort of ambiguous western-Oriental “aftertaste”, is a “dish” that came down to us from the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire and which has also been seasoned with a great variety of heavy Ottoman “spices”. In the Byzantine and Ottoman empires people could buy most of the public offices. If you dreamed of a career as a church beggar, for instance, the priest had to get his  commission in order to reserve for you a seat on the church steps. If the church was a cathedral the profits were high and so was the commission. If on the other hand you dreamed yourself as the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, first of all you had to have loads of money to bribe the sultan.

A few words to know each other......

Greeks Round the World  - Consulting Services

Through this blog, Greeks - Hellenes from abroad will have the chance to get valid information regarding issues that may concern them in different areas of beurocratic problems that might have risen according to each persons case and situation...Any quiry of yours will be a challenge and pleasure for us to resolve.

This Blog will help and provide services to Greeks around the world that wish to find easy access and answers to issues that concern them. With the current changes in Greece's Public Administration System, this blog wants to be a source of valid information...We just need your concern, problem or issue that you want to find an answer to.....