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The Troika wants liberalisation of 12 more jobs

07 July 2014 / 12:07:59  GRReporter
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The Greek government has to include in the list of liberalised professions 12 more jobs as stated in the report of the International Monetary Fund. It also reads that all restrictions on exercising the majority of the total 518 closed professions in the country are currently lifted, including the established minimum prices of certain services and the bureaucratic obstacles to starting a professional activity.

The extension of the list of closed professions in Greece that are to be liberalised aims to reduce the prices of offered services, and the professions added to them are as follows: real estate brokers, private schools and care for the elderly as well as the so-called "regulated" professions such as lawyers, doctors and engineers, where the efforts are aimed at reducing the prices of their services.

The report makes it clear that the liberalising procedures for 13% of the closed professions had started before the signing of the first Memorandum of economic aid, leading to the liberalisation of another 3% of them. 36% of the professions were liberalised between the first and second monitoring of the implementation of the memorandum and 10% during the third inspection. Currently 10% of the professions on the list are not yet liberalised, the procedures for 5% of them have not even been initiated and 23% of the professions on the list are in the penultimate stage before the final liberalisation.

The latest report by the International Monetary Fund indicates the professions that require the adoption of secondary legislation to fully liberalise them. Their liberalisation from all restrictions is part of the conditions for implementing the recovery programme of the Greek economy and the relevant inspection will take place in September. In particular, the professions are as follows:

  1. 56 technical professions for which there has been no presidential decree to replace the professional experience with participation in seminars.
  2. 10 fertilizer-trading jobs. In this case, presidential decrees to define the conditions, training programmes, adoption of secondary legislation and the introduction of courses will have to be presented to the State Council as well.
  3. In terms of agronomists, foresters, geologists and ichthyologists, the plans provide for the adoption of legislation to repeal the mandatory issuance of professional cards and the membership in the professional association, and their compulsory presence in municipalities with a population of over 5,000 people.
  4. Regarding technical television staff, the Greek government has undertaken to abolish the system of licensing, specifying in parallel the criteria for technical competence in the exercise of the specific activities.
  5. The requirement of the Troika in connection with healthcare professions is the adoption of legislation for the creation of day care centres, secondary legislation for the establishment of technical standards for clinics and legislation to reduce the requirements for their minimum area in order to open the market for health services.
  6. Regarding hairdressing and services of manicurists, the Troika’s requirement is to change the licensing criteria in compliance with the best practices in the European Union.
  7. In terms of the profession of loaders, the Greek government is committed to introducing professional training and to launching it at the end of June.
  8. Regarding energy inspectors, it is required to introduce exams to certify their behaviour.
  9. Pharmacists will have to harmonize their activities with the recommendations specified in the report of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
  10. Regarding entertainment and sports centres, the restrictions associated with their establishment, including minimum space requirements, the limited list of services and others will have to be revised in accordance with best practices in the European Union. The new legislation will change the excessive or ungrounded terms and conditions in compliance with the opinion of the commission on competition by the end of June.
  11. Seafarers will enter the profession in accordance with best practices in the European Union. In particular, the plans provide for adjusting the excessive requirements and for removing the obligatory deductions from their salaries.
  12. Regarding actuaries, legislation will be adopted that will regulate the certification exams and introduce exams for those who want to practise the profession.

The report on Greece pays particular attention to the closed professions in the field of justice. One of the issues that have not yet been addressed is the removal of the obligation to pay compensation in the case of leaving the Code of lawyers on a voluntary basis.

At the same time, a provision will be introduced under which any unilateral change in the terms, which is unfavourable to the lawyer, will be considered a cause for terminating the contract by the employer.

For notaries the Troika requires a reassessment of their fees as well as of the framework within which they will carry out their activities. At the same time, they require the adoption of legislation to align the legal framework in Greece with the best practices in the European Union by the end of September 2014.

For bailiffs, the admission conditions and fees must be revised in accordance with the best practices in the European Union. In this profession, the excessive requirements for new applicants should also be removed by the end of September 2014. The same requirement applies to all engineering professions.

Tags: EconomyProfessionsLiberalisationTroikaSecondary legislation
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