OPINION

Taking aim at unfair practices

A crisis often pushes politicians into taking decisions that in other circumstances would be considered a nonstarter.

The reason this happens is because most politicians are intimidated by the so-called ?political cost? of their actions.

An example of such a politically damaging hot potato is the abolition of fees collected by ferry operators on behalf of state bodies (these fees, which are included in the price of ferry tickets, are better known in Greece as third-party levies).

This absurd and socially unfair practice has been a burden on transportation in this country, whose national economy is highly dependent on the tourism sector.

Abolishing third-party fees is a welcome development that must, however, come hand in hand with an unconditional deregulation of cabotage for cruise ships.

The country needs all the tourism revenue it can get its hands on — and no special interest group can possibly be allowed to serve as an obstacle to this effort.

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