In the change and modernization of the framework that governs the issuance of licenses for companies of health interest in Athens, such as restaurants, cafes, cinemas, theaters, etc. The Ministry of Culture and the Municipality of Athens are moving forward together.
The introduced innovation stipulates that in the licensed K.Y.E that are not located near monuments and archeological sites, an approval document from the Athens City Ephorate will not be needed to complete the process.
The Central Archaeological Council gave a positive opinion on this and the relevant decision is expected to be issued by the Ministry of Culture.
In this way, a major reform is implemented, which facilitates entrepreneurship and consequently the creation of new jobs, as these companies are now relieved of a huge bureaucratic “burden”, which cost them valuable time and money.
What was valid until today
Until today, the licensing for the operation of health stores in the center of the capital was an “odyssey” with a series of bureaucratic procedures and the involvement of many responsibilities.
Specifically, for the issuance of the permit, the interested parties were obliged -initially- to submit the supporting documents to the services of the Municipality of Athens and then followed by control and approval by the Ephorate of Antiquities of the City of Athens. The service examined each application and referred it for final approval to the competent council of the Ministry of Culture.
The time-consuming and complicated process has resulted in discouraging investment and creating major obstacles to the development of the city’s economy.
The modernization of the institutional framework not only strengthens entrepreneurship, but at the same time frees up valuable human resources that were necessary for the handling of cases.
Today, the Ministry of Culture and the Municipality of Athens are taking the first big step to simplify the licensing process.
What changes in licenses – The three categories
The need for this reform was identified from the beginning by the Municipal Authority and was set as a priority in the context of close and extremely fruitful cooperation with the political leadership and the Services of the Ministry of Culture.
Executives of the two bodies (Ephorate of Antiquities of Athens, Service of Modern Monuments and Technical Works of Attica, If Central Greece & Cyclades of the Ministry of Culture and the Department of Geospatial Data Management and Municipal Revenue Department of the Municipality of Athens collaborated for months in order to maps of both the monuments and the areas protected by the Ephorate of Antiquities of the city of Athens (EFAPA).
Specifically, the protection area of ​​the Acropolis was mapped, as well as areas around more than 80 monuments and archeological sites, which are located throughout the city. In these areas it was determined which properties have visual contact with these monuments and therefore fall under protection.
After the detailed elaboration of the existing practices of delimitation of common area, the areas were mapped, in which EFAPA allows the operation of health interest stores (KYE) and the development of table seats.
In this way, ie by recording and identifying the areas where KYE and table seats are allowed, it becomes possible to simplify the existing procedure.
In conclusion, with the new regime, the following three categories are created:
· For businesses that are not adjacent to monuments or visitable archeological sites, the issuance of a certificate or other document by the Ephorate of Antiquities of the City of Athens will no longer be required for the start of their operation. Both the operating licenses and the table seating licenses will be issued based on the other terms and restrictions that apply to each area.
· Businesses bordering monuments or archeological sites to visit will now receive direct approval from the Ephorate of Antiquities of the City of Athens and will not require the time-consuming process of examining their application by the Local Council of the Ministry of Culture. This will happen both for the license and for the space that can be given for the use of table seats.
· It is noted that for companies located in the consolidated declared archaeological site around the Acropolis, which is the protection zone of the Acropolis as a World Heritage Site (part of Plaka and Thissio, etc.), the status remains the same and the licensing process will require the consent of the competent Council of the Ministry of Culture.
The joint effort of the Ministry of Culture and the Municipality of Athens for the drastic reduction of the bureaucracy will be intensified with multifaceted interventions, which aim at the simplification of licensing to concern all the businesses of Athens.
The Minister of Culture and Sports, Lina Mendoni, stated in this regard: “The Ministry of Culture and Sports, after the positive opinion of the Central Archaeological Council, on this proposal, significantly simplifies the approval process for the establishment and operation of Health Stores, serving the citizens and investors of the area, always in the context of adhering to the current institutional framework, while healing legal failures and negligence of the past. The envisaged licensing process of health interest stores, with the referral of most issues to the Local Council of Monuments of Attica, has been judged as particularly time consuming and particularly burdensome for citizens, but also for interested investors. In particular, in recent years, the increase in the number of stores and companies of health interest in general, within the Municipality of Athens, has resulted in the submission of a very large number of requests. It is characteristic that in 2020, about 240 cases were sent to the Local Council of Monuments, which concerned approvals for the operation of stores of health interest, within the archaeological site of Athens. Such cases can now be dealt with directly by the competent Ephorate of Antiquities without delays and bureaucratic procedures. After the positive opinion of the KAS, the way is opened for the issuance of a decision by the Ministry of Culture and Sports that will determine in detail the terms and their areas of validity “.
For his part, the Mayor of Athens, Costas Bakogiannis, said: “We make the daily life of professionals simpler, we overcome bureaucratic entanglements of decades. After our close, many months and fruitful cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, we actively intervene in the licensing process of the Health Interest Stores. We clarified with absolute clarity the cases in which the Ephorate of Antiquities of the city is involved. Restaurants, theaters, cafes, cinemas are the “hard” core of the local economy of the Center of Athens. And we are taking the first important step to remove barriers to establishment, to reduce start-up times, to stimulate entrepreneurship. “Because only in this way will we be led to an increase in employment and therefore to an economic recovery that will not leave anyone behind.”
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