Supporting the transition from informal to formal economy and addressing undeclared work in Greece: identifying drivers and ensuring effective compliance

In August 2015, the European Stability Mechanism support programme for Greece was approved by the Greek authorities and the European Commission. Its Memorandum of Understanding included the following key deliverable: “the authorities will adopt an integrated action plan to fight undeclared and under-declared work in order to strengthen the competitiveness of legal companies and protect workers as well as raise tax and social security revenues”. In this context, the ILO, in close collaboration with the Greek Government and the social partners, has formulated a project funded by the European Commission, on “Supporting the transition from informal to formal economy and addressing undeclared work in Greece”. A first and unique result of this project was the preparation, through a participative and consultative process, of a Diagnosis of Undeclared Work in Greece. The Diagnostic Report was endorsed by the Greek Government and the social partners in a high level tripartite validation meeting held on 6 July 2016. It also provides a set of policy recommendations that reflects a balanced approach combining incentives with compliance measures, as enshrined in the ILO Recommendation n. 204. Reaching a tripartite agreement on the main characteristics and drivers of informality in Greece was an important step. The next challenging step was to design, through tripartite dialogue, a road map for addressing undeclared work in Greece. This road map was adopted in October 2016 by the Greek Government and the social partners. It contains a balanced regulatory and policy framework for preventive and appropriate corrective measures that will facilitate the transition to the formal economy and tackle undeclared work. A very important measure after the tripartite validation of the national roadmap on tackling undeclared work was the adoption on 28/04/17 of the new Law 4468/2017, which establishes the Tripartite Committee with equal representation under the Supreme Labour Council on undeclared work. This Tripartite Committee has been established by the Government, in consultation with social partners, and will be responsible for steering and monitoring the implementation of the roadmap, involving social partners in the design and implementation of economic, employment and social policies.

Project symbol

GRC/15/01/EUR

Admin unit

DEVINVEST

Start date

22/12/2015

End date

05/11/2017

Total allocation

615300

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

487990

Development Partners

European Commission, DG Employment and Social Affairs

Country/Countries

Greece

Outcomes

Formalization of the informal economy