The bill brings simplification of licensing, full digitisation of procedures, one stop shop investment and enhancement of competitiveness of the Greek economy.
The reduction of bureaucracy and the acceleration of investments are at the focus of the new bill presented by the Minister of Development and Investment, Takis Theodoricakos, which brings sweeping changes to licensing, creates a one stop shop for strategic investments and promotes the complete digitalisation of procedures, with the aim of enhancing competitiveness and attracting new capital to the Greek economy, leading to development.
Provisions to reduce bureaucracy, simplify procedures, attract investment and enhance business activity, with specific interventions that respond to real problems in the market, “brings” the bill of the Ministry of Development submitted to the Parliament, as the responsible minister Takis Theodoricakos said, speaking earlier today at the Production and Trade Committee of the Parliament.
The Framework
The Parliamentary Committee started discussing today the draft law “Simplification of the framework for conducting economic activities under Law No. 4442/2016 – Designation of authorities for the implementation of the framework for the supervision of economic activities and product markets under Law No. 4512/2018 – Arrangements for the protection of geographical indications for handicraft and industrial products and taking necessary measures for the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 – Strengthening of development activity and strategic investments – Simplification of the institutional framework for outdoor trade and other provisions”.
The Development Minister described as an urgent national need to strengthen the competitiveness of the Greek economy and its resilience, given “everything that has been happening in recent weeks with the political and economic crisis in Greece. The Department of Reception of Investments and Financing Programmes of the General Secretariat for Private Investments becomes the single and unique body for the reception and processing of applications for inclusion in the strategic investment scheme and the entire process of Enterprise Greece of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is fully transferred to the Ministry of Development.
-Targeted reforms are being made to the Development Law, introducing clear rules for more transparency and credibility in the framework. Investment projects will not be eligible for aid schemes if they have been turned down in the past or if labour laws are not respected. At this point, the Minister of Development even informed the parliamentary committee that within the day, three new schemes of the development law, each worth 150 million euros (large investments, investments in border regions and in regions with less than 70% of national income and manufacturing) will be announced. He also said that €110 million had already been recovered from 145 investment initiatives in the past that had been subject to development laws, had been subsidised but did not realise the investments for which they had received the money. “I am not going to stop this work. We will go down to the last euro, down to the last company that had taken money and has not done the job,” he said.
– The framework for the expansion and modernization of existing industrial units is being simplified, especially in areas like Attica because “when the company operates legally and does not change its activity or its environmental category, it cannot face the same administrative obstacles from the beginning” and thus the possibility of modernization is given through an affidavit and notification Establishment and operation procedures are now only done digitally, through open business.
– An integrated framework for the protection of geographical indications for industrial and handicraft products is created in order to enhance the extroversion of Greek traditional products and to create new development opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises and individuals, producers and professionals. “With the European title, emblematic products of our country, such as the wood carvings of Tinos, the knives of Crete, the marbles of Penteli, the ceramics of Sifnos, the silverware of Ioannina, will acquire a recognizable identity and thus a much stronger position in the international market,” the Development Minister noted.
– The framework for open-air trade and popular markets is being modernized, with changes agreed with the representatives of the sector, to facilitate producers and professionals, for transparency, for the benefit of consumers.
– Consumer protection against unfair practices is strengthened and control mechanisms are reinforced through the use of digital tools that facilitate the direct participation of citizens who will be able to make a complaint on the mykataggelies online application.
Mr. Theodoricakos said that dozens of market checks are underway by the competent authority and pointed out that the government, “in the midst of the storm”, has taken measures to restore the cap on the profit margin, a measure which is an important tool for control and to curb obscenity.
