For a second year, Greece tops the list of countries in Europe in terms of reforms, according to a report by the Lisbon Council think tank presented on December 3 in Brussels in the presence of European Commission Vice President Olli Rehn.

The report, titled "The 2013 Euro Plus Monitor: From Pain to Gain," grades European countries using four indices: the adjustment of the current account balance, the fiscal adjustment, the labor cost adjustment, and reforms. On Greece, the report notes that “80% of the fiscal adjustment has already been completed.

With the short-term challenge of the fiscal adjustment having almost been dealt with, the long-term growth prospects of the country must now improve even further.” However the report points to concern about the fact that the Greek external deficit has been reduced mostly thanks to the decline in imports and not so much through growth in exports.

In Transparency International's 2013 Corruption Perceptions Index, Greece came in 80th, that is 14 notches better than in 2012, when it ranked 94th, the non-governmental organisation said on December 3, adding that despite the economic crisis Greece has taken measures to combat corruption.

The Corruption Perception Index measures the perceived levels of public sector graft in countries worldwide, scoring them from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). Covering 177 countries, the 2013 index paints a worrying picture. While a handful perform well, not one single country gets a perfect score.

More than two-thirds score less than 50. Denmark and New Zealand tied for first place out of 177 countries - meaning they were perceived to have the lowest levels of state sector bribery. "This year, for the first time, Greece is doing better and I think it shows that the government is efficiently combating corruption," the organisation's researcher Finn Heinrich said.