In a statement, the Council of State provides clarifications for the processing of two presidential decrees, the conditions of construction and the non -extension of the settlements.

The focal point of the CoE announcement is the Settings of RIS for Zone C, which were considered illegal, as they would include areas in this area which did not require the conditions to join the settlement threshold.

More specifically, last year, a draft Presidential Decree had been forwarded to the CoE, which had been judged lawful by the CoE in August 2024 (Opinion 74/2024).

In particular, the E CoE Department (74/2024), chaired by Vice President Margarita Gortzolidou and rapporteur on Paredro Zoe Theodorikakou, had considered the plan to be lawful with the union of two residential orders: concerning the terms and restrictions of construction of the settlements of the country up to 2,000 inhabitants.

It is clarified that two presidential decrees were in force. One is that of 2/13-3-81 which concerns the settlements before 1923 off -plan areas setting out the boundaries of the pre -16 -8-1923 existing settlements deprived of an approved planning plan, and in parallel with the same decree specifying the conditions and limitations of construction of these land. The second presidential decree was the 24-04-1985, which sets the boundaries of the settlements of the country up to 2,000 inhabitants and at the same time set out their conditions and restrictions on their construction.

After the Opinion of the CoE was forwarded to the RIS, the Ministry re -established the same draft decree last March, with some changes – and thereby issued an opinion of the same section No. 17/2025, with the same composition.

From the CoE, this unification was considered legal, while, on the contrary, the arrangements proposed by the RIS for Zone C were considered unlawful.

Zone C of the Decree Plan included the areas of the settlement after the B1 zone, up to the specified boundary of the settlement by decision of the Prefect.

According to the plan, Zone C would include “areas which, not only were included within the borders that had been in the past (mainly by prefectural decisions and not by PD) but also did not require the conditions to join the settlement threshold, in accordance with the criteria.” And adds the CoE: ‘In fact, these were areas that should be located outside the boundaries of settlement, which would only be buildable on the basis of the provisions on off -plan construction“

“The recognition of Zone III would essentially constitute an expansion of a settlement, which is expressly prohibited, both in the authorization law and to the provisions of the PD itself.“, Says the CoE.

As the State Advisers explain, “this expansion, of course, is not excluded, but it is possible only after the prior planning of the extension areas.” However, “a prerequisite for this planning is the prior establishment of an approved ICT (or EPS) and, until the approval of such plans, the existence of an approved GIS or SCOEAP”.