According to Article 61 paragraphs 2, 3 & 4 of the key transparency law (ν. 4622/2019 – ΦΕΚ Α’ 133/07.08.2019), “consultation on bills is done through the website www.opengov.gr and lasts two weeks,” and only exceptionally can be shortened to one week “for sufficiently substantiated reasons, referred to in the accompanying public consultation report,” which “is posted on the website where the consultation took place.”
On December 3, 2020, the Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, Stelios Petsas, posted on the public consultation website a bill entitled “Incorporation into national law of Directive (EU) 2010/13 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 March 2010 on audiovisual media services and other provisions of the Secretariat-General for Communication and Information, as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/1808 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 November 2018.” The consultation lasted until December 10, which means that the government shortened the consultation period to the minimum permissible period of one week.
In this case the government did not comply with legal provisions for public consultation and good legislative practices as they failed to mention the “sufficiently substantiated reasons” for shortening the duration of the public consultation. More specifically, Article 61 of law 4622/2019 stipulates when the consultation period is shortened, the ministry must state in the accompanying report the reasons for which its duration was limited. This report is prepared at the end of the consultation process, and presents the comments and suggestions of those who took part, documenting whether or not their contribution was incorporated in the final provisions. The report forms part of the final Regulatory Impact Analysis, which is also posted on the consultation website.
The Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister did not follow the legal procedure, failing to publish the report or the Regulatory Impact Analysis as required by law, thus failing to disclose the reasons for the shortened public consultation period and violating the rules of good legislation.
In a state that adheres to the rule of law, the government strictly follows the rules of good legislation, as this presupposes the improvement of legislative work and addresses the negative consequences of bad legislative practices (such as, for example, the multiplicity and incomprehensibility of provisions that have built up over time in Greek legislation).
Furthermore, the implementation of the rules of good legislation contributes to the consolidation of citizens’ trust in state institutions and the law, as they observe that the government complies with the law, strengthening the democratic principle where citizens and bodies of public power are equal before the law.
This is even more true of the public consultation process, the establishment of which allows civil society to take an active part in shaping the laws that govern a democratic society.
However, in this case the Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister did not apply the rules regarding the shortening of the public consultation period, as he failed to disclose the sufficiently substantiated reasons required for doing so.
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