Greek Parliament is reviewing the 2015 draft budget. Labour Minister Yiannis Vroutsis presented encouraging figures relating to the sustainability of the  Greek state insurance system according to findings of studies conducted by the National Actuarial Authority. These calculations are close to completion. Mr. Vroutsis said the actuarial studies run to 2060 and show that the Greek state insurance system no longer needs structural reforms and was heading towards an “environment of sustainability.” He said that Greece was working towards achieving its commitment to keep spending to 2.5% of the GDP until 2060 with 2009 as the reference year.

Mr. Vroutsis said these results were an important achievement. He said that maintaining them in the long-term meant that the state insurance system must “stay away” from politics and that any deviations need to be rectified promptly.

He said that the country’s pension system was entering a new era and should never again be undermined by irresponsible political decisions and behavior. Mr. Vroutsis went on to list the hundreds of millions saved through changes and cross-checks carried out by the government to uncover illegal pensions that cost the government five billion euros over the last 15 years and also refered to provocatively early retirement ages, saying these would be dealt with gradually and with exceptions made for cases truly needing special treatment, such as people with disabilities.

He also said planned changes to laws governing trade unions seek to strengthen both trade union freedoms and the unobstructed growth of health entrepreneurship.