4.2 Product markets and business environment
More open markets are essential to create economic opportunities and improve social fairness, by curtailing rent-seeking and monopolistic behaviour, which has translated into higher prices and lower living standards. In line with their growth strategy, the authorities will intensify their efforts to bring key initiatives and reform proposals to fruition as well as enrich the agenda with further ambitious reforms that will support the country’s return to sustainable growth, attract investments and create jobs.
Theauthorities will as prior actions:
i. Adopt [primary] legislation that will provide for a General Sale List sub-category within the OTC pharmaceutical product list with effectiveness as of June 2016.
ii. Adopt theremaining recommendations of the OECD Competition Toolkit II- with the exception of [5] recommendations – on beverages and petroleum products.
iii. Submit to the Institutions draft roadmaps to:
a. remove unjustified and disproportionate restrictions for the activities of engineers and related professions;
b. address the external advisor's recommendations on regulated professions including prioritisation.
Agreement on these roadmaps with the Institutions is to be achieved by May 2016.
On competition:
i. Toolkit I recommendations. By May 2016, the authorities will fully legislate the OECD competition toolkit I recommendation on OTC pharmaceutical products with effectiveness as of June 2016 (key deliverable). By May 2016, the authorities will implement the remaining recommendations of the OECD toolkit I on foodstuffs. By June 2016, the authorities will fully adopt the pending recommendation on building materials. The authorities will liberalise Sunday trade following the forthcoming State Council ruling.
ii. Toolkit II recommendations. Adopt theremaining [5] recommendations on beverages and petroleum products by [September] 2016.
iii. Toolkit III recommendations: By June 2016, the Government will adopt legislation to address all identified issues in the new OECD competition assessment for [1] sector. [By September 2016, the Government will address a number of barriers to competition as identified by the OECD's initial scan of legislation.] By [December] 2016, the Government will adopt legislation to address all identified issues for the remaining sectors(key deliverables).
On investment licensing, the authorities will adopt legislation according to the prioritization of the investment licensing reform roadmap by June 2016 in three sectors(key deliverable), and proceed withfollow-up phases of the investment licensing reform to be implemented in line with the roadmap.
On administrative burden, by May 2016, the Government will adopt the pending OECD recommendations on fuel trader licenses. On environmental licensing, the Government will submit the presidential decree on the external environment assessors by [June 2016] and make operational the digitization of the licensing process by [September 2016] as per OECD's recommendations. In addition, by [June 2016], the authorities will further reduce administrative burden, including through one-stop shops for business (key deliverable). By [June 2016], the Government will fully implement the law on better regulation.
On competition, investment licensing and administrative burden, the Government will agree [by May 2016] a roadmap for launching a second round of ex-post impact assessment of selected reforms and their implementation. On the basis of the ex-post assessments [first round] launched in October 2015, the Government will adopt the identified remaining measures needed for their full implementation by June 2016 (key deliverable).
To modernize company law, the Government should prepare a review by [September 2016] on changes needed to bring Law 2190/1920 into line with best practices. The review and should be carried out in cooperation with the European Commission and involve the consultation of key stakeholders. Based on the recommendations of the review, the Government should amend Law 2190/1920 by [December] 2016.
On regulated professions, in order to remove unjustified and disproportionate restrictions, the Government will agree with the Institutions by [May 2016] a roadmap for the liberalization of the reserved activities of engineers and related professions (key deliverable) and implement it in a timely manner. The authorities will adopt the recommendations of an external advisor by [June 2016] on the basis of the agreed prioritization. The recommendations of the inter-ministerial committee, based on other recent reports, will be submitted to the Institutions by [May] 2016 and their adoption, including prioritization, will be realized by [September 2016].
On export promotion, the authorities with the participation of public and private stakeholders, will adopt an export promotion action plan by [May 2016] and proceed subsequently with its implementation.
On land use, as a prior action, the Government will (i) agree with the Institutions the provisions for the selected improvements of the spatial planning law, including parts of the land use categories; (ii) adopt the Presidential Decree on forestry definitions; (iii) adopt the law on forest maps in agreement with the Institutions. The authorities will adopt by June 2016 the provisions on the spatial planning law and the secondary legislation to ensure that the legislation effectively facilitates investment, and streamlines and shortens planning processes while allowing for the necessary safeguards. If there is no agreement on the necessary changes, the 2014 spatial planning law will be fully implemented by [June] 2016 (key deliverable). The authorities will fully implement the forestry law by July 2016. The forest maps already completed by EKXA and approved by the forestry services will be uploaded by end-June and ratified by [date] following the prescribed review process, which will be fully functional by the time the maps are uploaded.
On cadastre, the authorities will [adopt/implement] by May 2016 the new legal framework for nationwide cadastral offices on the basis of the business plan, the experience of the two pilot offices and recent technical assistance advice (key deliverable). They will strengthen the cadastral office EKXA (see section 5.4). The authorities will use further technical assistance to ensure an effective implementation of the new legal framework.[placeholder on cadastre reforms]
On agriculture, the authorities will follow up on the agricultural competitiveness strategy adopted by the Government, by implementing the six legislative measures identified according to schedule. In particular, by [June 2016] (i) a law will be adopted aiming to increase the size of holdings and introduce new forms of partnership (ordinary partnerships (OE), limited partnerships (EE), public limited companies (AE)) between land owners who are not farmers and growers; and (ii) the new law on 'Agricultural Cooperatives and forms of collective organisation of the rural community' will be adopted. The authorities will broaden the scope of the agricultural competitiveness study to cover the whole rural development sector, by December 2016.
On structural funds, the work plan produced by the authorities in December 2015 will be updated by [May 2016]. It will be monitored monthly and will be fully implemented by September 2016. The inter-ministerial committee on major projects will continue its work proposing solutions to blockages and the action plans for the motorways and other projects will be updated monthly. The authorities will: a) propose measures to accelerate implementation of works, including legislative and administrative action to streamline the expropriation procedures under a new unified legislative framework, to streamline the procedures related to archaeological works and will simplify procedures through codification of legislation [by June 2016] {how does one “streamline” arcaeological work in a Business context} ; b) submit and agree with the Commission [by May 2016] a list of significant projects to be activated within 2016, for all 2014-2020 Operational Programmes with timelines from their approvals until their completion, monitored by the inter-ministerial committee (when it concerns public works, timelines should include preparation and tendering phases).
On technical assistance, the authorities will continue the ongoing support in two critical areas: a) the competition assessment in wholesale trade, construction, e-commerce, media and rest of manufacturing with support of the OECD; and b) the investment licensing reform with support of the World Bank. In addition, the authorities intend to launch technical assistance projects in the areas of cadastre and land management, education, export promotion, one-stop shops, tourism and trade facilitation. Furthermore, with support of technical assistance, the authorities intend to assess the implementation of the reforms in areas such as competition and investment licensing. Finally, in order to ensure an effective reform implementation, the authorities will use technical assistance in other areas as needed, including through Commission services, Member State experts, international organisations, and independent consultants. This includes areas such as agriculture, environment and structural funds.