Greece

Overview and recent developments

Greece has introduced Law 4622 in 2019, which further embeds regulatory management tools into the rule-making process for primary laws. A list of laws to be prepared or modified is now published in advance and the guidance on regulatory impact assessment (RIA) for primary laws has been updated and now includes guidelines on how to conduct stakeholder engagement. A range of mechanisms were introduced to assist officials in the development of ex post evaluations which is not yet done systematically in Greece. The relevant guidebook and template is currently being piloted and is planned to be published in 2021. Ex post evaluations are planned to be conducted by a new body established by Law 4622, the Special Secretariat for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Government Programme.

RIA is obligatory for all primary laws and for subordinate regulations of major economic or social importance. RIAs for primary laws must now be signed-off by the competent minister before being submitted to the Greek parliament. Based on Law 4622/2019, all analysis shall be proportionate to the significance or expected impacts of the regulation, additional categories of regulatory costs shall be quantified, and regulators shall assess the regulatory impacts on a larger range of factors, including gender equality and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

While public consultations are required for all primary laws, there is no requirement for subordinate regulation. In practice, draft primary laws are frequently posted on the consultation portal (www.opengov.gr) and only a few subordinate regulations are subject to public consultation. All consultation on primary laws should be accompanied by a RIA, although this is not always the case in practice.

In December 2020, a presidential decree amended the competences of the Better Regulation Office (BRO) of the Secretariat General of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs (Presidency of the Government). The BRO is no longer in charge of RIA scrutiny or the drafting of an annual report on better regulation but retains a range of responsibilities such as: promoting the “implementation of better regulation principles and tools in the exercise of governmental powers”, including appropriate institutional co-operation; initiating and monitoring public consultation procedures in co-operation with the competent law-making committee and the ministry that has the legislative initiative; and preparing an annual report on Regulatory Production and Evaluation (in co-operation with the General Secretariat for Coordination). The presidential decree merged the two Directorates of Legislative Procedure under the Secretariat General of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. According to the new legal requirements, the resulting directorate plays an important co-ordination role on regulatory policy and is responsible for ensuring the incorporation of any remarks made by the Committee on Evaluation of the Quality of Legislative Procedure, which is an advisory body responsible for scrutinising RIAs and associated draft bills and ensuring the legal quality of government regulations.

Better implementation of the requirements set by the law, especially in the area of impact assessment and stakeholder engagement, are advisable as well as further simplification of the regulatory framework. Applying the existing regulatory management tools to subordinate regulations would also enhance regulatory quality in Greece.

Indicators of Regulatory Policy and Governance (iREG): Greece, 2021

Notes: The more regulatory practices as advocated in the OECD Recommendation on Regulatory Policy and Governance a country has implemented, the higher its iREG score. The indicators on stakeholder engagement and RIA for primary laws only cover those initiated by the executive (100% of all primary laws in Greece).

Source: Indicators of Regulatory Policy and Governance Surveys 2017 and 2021, http://oe.cd/ireg.