Laws, Regulations & Policies

The ministry of public order recently announced their concern with an issue on locals crossing the Greek-Turkish border. Greek citizens are legally allowed to cross the border into Turkey with the presentation of the new national identification card on which information is displayed in Latin characters.

The procedure to remove Greece from the list of countries from which a visa is required to enter the United States has been initiated. Foreign Ministry spokesman, George Koumoutsakos, recently announced that the Greek ambassador in the United States, Alexandros P. Mallias, met with U.S. Minister of Internal Affairs, Michael Jackson, to discuss the issue.

Tourism Development Minister Fanni-Palli Petralia recently signed an agreement for the modification of presidential decree 43 of 2002 that will redefine the prerequisites for the classification of hotels into the star system.

Government last month introduced a draft proposal for the introduction of land zoning regulations for the tourism sector. The plan, if accepted and passed, is expected to lead to the construction of leisure and retirement villages, which could attract major investment to the country’s tourism sector.

The European Commission has given airlines and member states six months to make the EC’s new air passenger rights regulation work. It said it would provide airlines with full support in an effort to complete the process.

Visa facilitation and readmission agreements between the European Commission and three Balkan countries-Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro – was initialized last month.

Bids by five companies/consortiums to enter the final phase of the tender for the Aghios Kosmas Marina were opened last month at the office of state-owned Olympic Properties. The best offer tabled in the tender, according to press reports, includes an offer to lease the property for an annual fee of 14.3 million euros. The lease is set for a period of 45 years.

The eagerly awaited first special zoning plan concerning renewable energy sources (RES) has been handed in for consultation and is expected to be tabled in parliament in April.

The final touches to the first national land-planning map, and to the special land-planning framework for tourism, industry and recyclable energy sources, are being enacted by Greece’s minister of the environment, planning and public works, Giorgos Souflias.

Hoteliers are voicing strong opposition to a clause in the new investment incentives law that provides for subsidies of at least 15 percent for the construction of new hotels in Athens and Thessaloniki.