New agency to replace Task Force after February
The work of the European Commission’s Task Force for Greece is to be completed at the end of February, with the formal completion of the bailout agreement, while a new European agency is expected to replace it.
The Task Force’s mandate, which included the supply of technical expertise to Greece for the improvement and restructuring of the public administration and the economy in general, is coming to an end after having had a presence in Greece since 2011. In its place the European Commission will introduce a new team that will offer know-how to all countries that need and apply for its help.
The work of the Task Force in Greece is seen to have been successful, hence Brussels’s decision to offer a similar service to any member state requiring it. Pierre Moscovici, the European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, will be the new agency’s political master.
Task Force head Horst Reichenbach’s work in Greece has been appreciated and the Commission has rewarded him with an appointment as Brussels’s sole representative on the governing board of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
