New committee formed to assess progress of deregulation in closed-shop professions
A new committee consisting of 40 officials from the relevant ministries has been formed by Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis to assess the progress of liberalization measures introduced since the start of the crisis in the services sector.
The liberalization of so-called closed-shop professions is one of the terms Greece has had to meet in exchange for EU-IMF bailout funding, though a slew of legislation dictating more flexibility in the labor market and deregulation has failed to fully open professions such as those of lawyers, engineers, actuaries, plumbers and electricians, etc to competition.
The committee is tasked with assessing the progress of liberalization reforms in all areas of the services sector in order to ascertain whether they have lifted restrictions to competition. It will also make recommendations for the deregulation of professions that have failed to comply with European competition regulations.
