SEEurope report

Dr Christos A. Ioannou (CIRN, Athens University of Economics and Business)

The SE Regulation and Directive transposition process has reached its final stage in Greece. Last week (25 October 2005) the Greek Parliament adopted the Law which transposes the provisions of the SE Regulation. This was necessary in order first to provide the framework for the dualistic system of corporate governance (management board and separate supervisory board), and second to extend the application of national legislation on limited companies to the new SEs.

The door is now open for transposition of the SE Directive. Transposition will take the form of a Presidential Decree. The Decree has been drafted and is currently under legal consideration by the Ministry of Employment and the Research Committee of the Greek Parliament. This means that the process may be concluded well before the end of 2005.
The acceleration of the process has helped to boost the national debate on the issue. The social partners have participated in parliamentary committees for “transposition” of the Regulation and in working groups on the drafting of the Presidential Decree transposing the SE Directive.
In this context the OKE – the Economic and Social Council (www.oke.gr) – issued an opinion on the SE.
To promote the national debate on the SE and discuss its industrial relations implications, CIRN (Center for Industrial Relations and Negotiations) at Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB) will organise an international seminar, planned for 12–14 July 2005 in Athens.

SEEurope report

Dr. Christos A. Ioannou (CIRN, Athens University of Economics and Business)

One year after the March 2004 Greek general election and the change of government there have not been many significant developments or much progress concerning transposition of the SE Directive. Progress consists mainly in the formation of a working committee with the task of drafting the transposition text.
With a view to establishing what progress had been made and to elicit the government’s intentions on the issue a parliamentary question was submitted in late January by PASOK MP Mr Protopapas. The question was addressed to the Minister of Employment and referred to progress and plans to transpose the SE Directive.

In mid February the Minister of Employment replied concerning the current situation and plans for transposing the SE Directive.
According to the Ministry of Employment the topic is under consideration by three Ministries, namely Employment, the Economy and Development.
A committee has been formed at the Ministry of Employment which is working on a draft Presidential Decree concerning transposition of the Directive. The committee is chaired by a member of the State Legal Council (Elegktikon Synedrio), and includes representatives of the three Ministries, as well as of the social partners.
The committee is drafting the Presidential Decree article by article and is expected to complete the preparatory work soon, the Minister said. The Minister of Employment attributes the delay in transposition to delays affecting the Committee.
It therefore remains unclear when transposition will take place. New reporting will focus on the contents of the draft Presidential Decree when it reaches its final stages.

SEEurope report

Dr Christos A. Ioannou (CIRN, Athens University of Economics and Business)

The 7 March 2004 elections and the change of government led to a reorganisation of legislative work in the Greek parliament. Although some preparatory work had been done on transposition of the SE Regulation and Directive, the issue was given low priority and the official legislative process has not yet begun. It has become clear that transposition of the Regulation on the SE must take the form of a new law: a presidential decree will not suffice. The main reason for this is that it would also affect existing legislation on "limited companies", as governed by Law 2190 of 1920, a law that is clearly in need of modernisation.

With the new government it is unclear whether transposition will take place on time (that is, 8 October 2004). No formal committee has yet been formed for drafting and consultation in relation to the SE.
My research among ministries and the social partners reached the conclusion that awareness remains low and that SE transposition is not considered a priority or even a topic of interest. With a view to increasing awareness and stimulating more interest, I have given a number of lectures and published an article in a major economic journal (Imerissia, 1 August 2004) concerning the characteristics of the SE and the importance of transposing the regulation and the directive.

DOCUMENTS:

• ONLINE-Artice on the SE (319 KB, pdf, only in Greek )
  by Dr. Christos A. Ioannou