Development Minister Costis Hatzidakis submitted on Friday four basic changes on certain contested articles of the open-air markets’ bill.

However, the minister is reportedly unwilling to back down on the issue of the stalls allocation with by annual lottery, the most controversial issue for the specific industry.

More specifically, Mr Hatzidakis noted that, according to the new amendments, it has become clear that “the existing number of licenses in open-air markets cannot be reduced” and added that stalls will be allocated by lottery on January 2015 and then an annual rotating system will be implemented”.

Moreover, the duration of street trade fairs is increased to five from three days, while Christmas and Easter fairs will last 10 days. Furthermore, imprisonment for transgressions is reduced to six months from one year.
According to the Development Minister, the changes make the licensing system fairer and more transparent while it is made clear that the number of existing licenses will not be reduced.

Moreover, sanctions and fines are minimized, while the provision for disenfranchisement and deportation was withdrawn.