 A woman walks outside a closed pharmacy during a strike in Athens on Jan. 19, 2011. Greek pharmacists conducted a three-day strike to protest reforms planned by the government to heal the debt-ridden country's finances. AP photo |
Greece’s government approved a plan to open up professions such as law and accountancy, one of the conditions for a European Union-led bailout last year.
The Cabinet backed the proposal in a meeting late Wednesday. It includes measures such as removing caps on the number of people who can practice a profession and bringing minimum earnings into line with the minimum wage. Parliament will vote on the bill before Jan. 25.
“Our constitution says that professional freedom is enshrined,” Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said in an interview on Mega Television Wednesday night. “For years we have accumulated regulation upon regulation, and in practice we have eliminated the possibility for professionals to do their jobs right.”
The requirement for Greece to drop restrictions on jobs including pharmacists and engineers was laid down in the 110 billion-euro ($148 billion) bailout from the EU and International Monetary Fund, or IMF. The aim is to boost competitiveness and help bring down the euro area’s second-highest inflation rate. A similar liberalization of road transportation last year led to strikes by truckers that starved the country of fuel.
“The lending agreement has a series of measures and directions for the economy that are not just to do with the public sector but also to do with important structural reforms that Greece needs to become more competitive,” Papaconstantinou said.
Pharmacists staged the second of three 24-hour strikes Thursday in protest at the measure, which will also force them to open all day on Saturdays as well as on Monday and Wednesday afternoons.
The Cabinet backed the proposal in a meeting late Wednesday. It includes measures such as removing caps on the number of people who can practice a profession and bringing minimum earnings into line with the minimum wage. Parliament will vote on the bill before Jan. 25.
“Our constitution says that professional freedom is enshrined,” Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said in an interview on Mega Television Wednesday night. “For years we have accumulated regulation upon regulation, and in practice we have eliminated the possibility for professionals to do their jobs right.”
The requirement for Greece to drop restrictions on jobs including pharmacists and engineers was laid down in the 110 billion-euro ($148 billion) bailout from the EU and International Monetary Fund, or IMF. The aim is to boost competitiveness and help bring down the euro area’s second-highest inflation rate. A similar liberalization of road transportation last year led to strikes by truckers that starved the country of fuel.
“The lending agreement has a series of measures and directions for the economy that are not just to do with the public sector but also to do with important structural reforms that Greece needs to become more competitive,” Papaconstantinou said.
Pharmacists staged the second of three 24-hour strikes Thursday in protest at the measure, which will also force them to open all day on Saturdays as well as on Monday and Wednesday afternoons.
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