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Cut but not as much as expected is the 2012 budget of the Greek Parliament. According to officially published data, the decrease compared with 2011 is € 27 million.

The detailed list shows that only 30% or € 8 million were taken from operational costs, i.e. the costs for public relations, supplies of materials, renting of premises, etc. The remaining 70% come from the reduction of the salaries of deputies and parliamentary staff. It is interesting that there are no additional cuts for the deputies. Even the allowance for attendance at meetings of parliamentary committees has been kept because of the sharp reactions of the parliamentary groups of the two major parties PASOK and New Democracy. Their argument is that the deputies have already reached their living wage! Thus, the only thing they will say goodbye to is a monthly wage, a measure that the government announced early last September.

However, Parliament employees will bear the lion's share of cuts. They will be deprived of any additional payments and allowances as provided by the government decisions adopted for all public sector employees.

The final form of the parliamentary budget for 2012 will be announced on Tuesday, when it will be discussed at a meeting of the plenum. According to the data published so far, in 2012, the parliament functioning will cost Greek taxpayers € 170,972,000. For comparison, this amount for 2011 was € 197,988,000 and the total amount of reductions in costs from 2009 to 2012 is € 52 million. In the same period, deputies’ incomes have been cut by 40%.

According to commentators, figures show that Parliament has also had many unnecessary costs in recent years after it is able to function regularly today, despite the reduced budget.
 
Meanwhile, Minister of Administrative Reform Dimitris Repas issued an order under which all ministries and departments should provide full details on their administrative structures: head offices, departments, divisions and sub-divisions. The general and special secretariats, their subordinate departments, independent and local authorities are also obliged to declare the number of their services.

The data should be submitted by October 31 to allow the government to initiate the restructuring of the state apparatus, which includes reducing the administrative offices by 30%.

General secretaries of ministries and decentralized departments and heads of independent authorities that “are responsible for their timely and accurate submission” should carry out the data collection.

Thus, it is expected that the posts of heads of offices and departments will be reduced by ten thousand as there will be mass transfers of employees and the labour reserves will be introduced.
  
The countdown will begin with the publication of the bill of the Ministry of Finance voted last week in the Government Gazette. The law provides for a radical restructuring of the state apparatus. Elimination of services will immediately remove 30,000 jobs held by general managers, managers and heads of departments and one in three will lose the title of person in charge. At the same time, they will say goodbye to one of the few allowances that will continue to exist after the introduction of the single payroll table in the public sector.