July 19, 2011
If you want to be a dancer in Greece, you can now swirl freely into your new career. But if your heart is set on opening a pharmacy, things are not that easy.
As part of its overhaul of the economy to send investors a message it is making changes to tackle its debt crisis, the Greek government is opening up professions but the jobs market is still far from an even playing field.
Athens has promised international lenders to untangle a web of rules on about 135 "closed" professions, allowing anyone who wants to drive a Greek taxi, open a bakery or guide tourists on the Acropolis to do so without restriction as of July 2.
But in practice, the much-touted liberalization has so far been limited, with the government bowing to the demands of powerful unions and keeping regulations on many sectors.
"Ballets and dancing schools have been liberalized but more complicated professions such as civil engineers, pharmacists and lawyers have not opened at all," Yannis Stournaras, head of the IOBE think-tank, told Reuters. "The political system resists."
IOBE estimates a complete opening up of professions would benefit the economy by 17 percent of GDP in the long run.
"The problem is that the law that liberalizes a profession passes through parliament and then the implementation law includes such complicated rules and regulations that it is effectively not open," Stournaras said.
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