The self-righteous abolition of NPDDs and public benefit enterprises of Municipalities is provided for by a draft law of the Ministry of the Interior entitled “Reformation of the governance system of Local Government Organizations of the first and second degree, abolition of legal entities under public law of Municipalities, monitoring of local government performance and other provisions”. posted on opengov.gr for public consultation.

The abolition of over 500 municipal NPDDs and municipal public benefit enterprises is scheduled for December 31, 2023, i.e. the last day of the current municipal term. In the explanatory report it is stated that the measure aims to deal with malfunctions presented by the legal entities of the municipalities, due to insufficient staffing and the division of local affairs between them and the central municipality.

The staff of the abolished entities are transferred to the municipality and provide their services with the same employment relationship or salaried mandate. The permanent staff are classified in organizational positions corresponding to their qualifications by category and branch/specialty, while the staff with an employment relationship under private law of indefinite duration are classified in temporary personnel positions of the corresponding category and branch/specialty, which are recommended to the internal service organization of the municipality and are abolished when the employee leaves in any way.

It is also foreseen that from June 30, 2024, the operation of more than 600 school committees and municipal committees will cease and their responsibilities will be transferred to the relevant municipalities.

The transfer of staff, resources and their responsibilities to the central core of the municipalities will ensure better resource management, improved distribution of responsibilities among staff and economies of scale from the consolidation of supplies and services, the explanatory memorandum emphasizes.

In order to exercise the powers of the abolished legal entities, the municipalities can set up committees, while for matters of school committees, up to two committees must be set up, in which at least one representative of school units or parents’ and guardians’ association of the relevant municipality participates.

For each legal entity that is abolished, the number of deputy mayors increases by one, as long as the average budget of the abolished legal entity of the last five years is greater than one million euros.