ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that how institutions have influenced the scope of reform in the case of Greece. It provides the institutional background against which welfare reform will be set, that is, the structure of the pension system. The chapter outlines of the specific problem constellation, taking into consideration some relatively stable parameters and a factor that could have acted as a catalyst to the system, namely, the process of economic and monetary integration. It provides Italy as a case of far-reaching reform and also outlines the reform attempts undertaken in Greece during the 1990s and focuses on the reform proposals brought forward in 2001. In contrast to Italy, Greece had to start building these mechanisms in the 1990s. Unilateral action when used has had limited success because of the high political costs involved in such an attempt, made clear by the trades unions' ability to mobilise political and societal resistance to reform.
