Athens will likely relax laws if current proposals on the table go through
After the capital showed its best face for the Olympic Games in 2004, Athens officials decided to allow a relaxation of the law governing outdoor advertising. Proposals on this revised law have been prepared by the office of the undersecretary of the exterior, Thanassis Nakos, and forwarded to the offices of PEXODE for further study. Reliable sources say the new legal framework will reduce the areas where billboards can be located. However, those in the advertising world also believe the new law has adopted wholesale the viewpoints of those businesspeople in advertising. The official reason appears to be that strict limits will hurt businesses, which will then translate into lost jobs. If there are no changes, the new law will abolish many limitations on advertisers. The minimum distance between advertising billboards will apparently be reduced from 100 meters to 20 meters, while more advertisements can also be placed on kiosks. Also, advertisements can be lit up and are not required to follow the schemes of buildings. Also on the chopping block: any limitations regarding outdoor advertising on buildings outside town planning areas. Advertisements in these areas can be put up within a distance of under a kilometer between each other. Other proposals include removing limitations on billboards being placed on balconies and making sure billboards are regularly changed at bus stops.
