GREECE: An Introduction

Greek Economic Recovery 

Greece has successfully rebounded from both the financial crisis and the pandemic, both of which have had lasting global effects. Greece has managed to overcome its long lockdown and emerged a better country than before. It has successfully undergone a digital transformation providing electronic access, for both citizens and business, to a variety of services. This is a key development given the country’s historically complex bureaucracy, which created many hurdles and barriers to entry for new players and in general made life difficult for all businesses. The Greek banking system has also undergone a successful transformation, managing its non-performing loan portfolio, with 2022 being a year of focus on investments and growth.

Increasing investments and exports, government support measures, implementation of the Greece 2.0 Recovery and Resilience Package and the reforms of the past decade have all been supporting the economy. In 2022 there was an increase in every conceivable measure: disposable income, industrial turnover index and retail trade turnover. If one accounts for the dependence on the services sector and the effect of a long lockdown, the feat is even more astonishing. Foreign investment skyrocketed with big international firms investing in Greece (eg, Pfizer, Tesla, Volkswagen, Cisco, SAP, Amazon and eBay) and major projects attracting global players. Of course, surging energy prices and Russia’s war against Ukraine have tested the strength of the recovery and have increased the cost of goods and services. Nevertheless, 2022 was a very good year for doing business in Greece. It is worth noting that the number of company openings measured by the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry was three times greater than the number of closures in 2022. Couple that with the return of the Greek State to international capital markets, which was met with strong investment interest, as the reopening of a five-year bond saw prices up by nearly 250%, and one can understand the position of the Greek market.

The Greek legal market has more or less stabilised and has grown significantly due to increased investment and natural market evolution. Big law firms dominate the market offering “turn key” solutions and helping investors to get a comprehensive and holistic approach on all legal issues.

Legislative Changes 

The government has made significant changes and passed laws to support investment. Law 4887/2022 was published in the Government Gazette (A’ 16, 4.2.2022). The new Development Law– Greece Strong Growth replaces Law 4399/2016 and introduces a number of advanced regulations in order to support businesses. The new Law 4887/2022 provides important and modern forms of investment in 13 new aid schemes allowing investors to plan, implement and grow initiatives across a wide range of sectors of the Greek economy, and offers incentives to certain business activities and sectors. Moreover, it introduces mechanisms and guidelines aimed at speeding up procedures regarding the evaluation, approval, control, and certification of investment plans.

The 13 new aid schemes provided by this law are introduced, for the first time, thematically. The 13 aid schemes are:

• digital and technological transformation;

• green transition – environmental upgrades;

• new business;

• fair development transition;

• research and applied innovation;

• agri-food – primary production and processing of agricultural products – fisheries and aquaculture;

• manufacturing – supply chains;

• business extroversion;

• support for tourism investments;

• alternative forms of tourism;

• large-scale investments;

• European value chains;

• 360° entrepreneurship.

Moreover, the government has continued the implementation of the Digital Transformation plan for 2020–2025, launched in June 2021, documented in the “Digital Transformation Bible”. This is a measurable strategy describing the principles and framework that will be used to facilitate the digitalisation of society and economy. The plan consists of 450 projects supported by EUR6.4 billion of the EU Recovery Fund, to speed up the digitalisation of the public and private sectors and increase Greece’s digital readiness.

Employment 

In the area of employment law, 2022 was a productive year. From 1 May, the statutory minimum monthly and daily wage in Greece were increased; this was the second such increase in 2022. The new gross monthly minimum wage is EUR713.00 for employees and the minimum daily wage is EUR31.85 for manual workers.

Furthermore, the government has adopted Law 4997/2022 (published on 25 November 2022) introducing into the Greek legal system new rules concerning social security and labour legislation. The main points of interest are: (i) a ten-year statute of limitation regarding social security contributions (five years as of 2026); (ii) permanent reduction of social security contributions; (iii) incentives for the conversion of part–time employment contracts to full-time ones, including a social security contributions subsidy; (iv) extension of special maternity protection leave from six to nine months, with an option for the mother to transfer, up to seven months of this leave to the father; (v) a daily employment programme for safety technicians and occupational doctors; and vi) prohibition of discrimination against HIV-positive employees.

The Ministry of Labour has also expanded the use of digital work cards in certain sectors of the market and the digitalisation of work schedules for all employees. Finally, Presidential Decree No 80 (published on  4 December 2022) under the title “Code of Individual Labour Law” has been introduced bringing together the existing provisions in force with logical and thematic continuity in order to facilitate the search for the existing institutional framework. Among other things, the codified labour legislation includes basic regulation of employment contracts; their content, preparation and termination; working time (hours and leave); and remuneration.

Moreover, Law 4990/2022 transposed into Greek law EU Directive 2019/1937 on the protection of persons reporting breaches of EU law. This law introduces provisions for the protection of whistle-blowers, the obligation to appoint an officer responsible to receive and manage reports, and the obligation to implement suitable technical and organisational measures to safeguard confidentiality. The law provides for criminal sanctions and monetary fines for non-compliance. It affects businesses with 50 or more employees, and companies operating in financial services, products and markets, and the transport and environmental sectors regardless of the number of employees. These businesses are obliged to set up proper internal reporting channels for the reporting of violations, for the protection of whistle-blower confidentiality and for protection against retaliation. Entities with 50 to 249 employees must appoint an officer by 17 December 2023 and companies with over 249 employees must appoint an officer no later than 11 May 2023. This appointment must be notified to the Labour Inspectorate or the competent supervisory authority within two months.

Law 4967/2022 on contracts for the supply of digital content and services as well as on contracts for the sale of goods, was launched in September 2022, transposing EU Directives 2019/770 and 2019/771 of the European Parliament and the Council into Greek law. This Law made significant amendments to the Greek Civil Code – principally with regard to sales law.

Judgments 

Finally, the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court has just recently (February 2023) ruled on the matter of the standing of loan-servicing companies initiating auction proceedings with regard to real estate while acting as servicers of funds/purchasers of non-performing loans, in favour of the servicing companies.