In his keynote speech, Kyriakos Mitsotakis emphasized:
We have significant bills to process, the Local Government Code is coming to bring order, but today we will focus on 25 priorities until the end of the year. A package of initiatives, I’m looking at the Environment Minister, has three priorities. It is very important at the cabinet level, I will highlight some that I consider particularly significant: The Finance Ministry is preparing for announcements to be made at the Thessaloniki International Fair, but we insist on the battle against tax evasion, we are starting a very important effort together with the Development Ministry to reduce bureaucracy for businesses.
The Interior Ministry to complete the disciplinary code for civil servants, Infrastructure and Transport will present the first samples of Greek railways this autumn. 3 priorities for the Environment Ministry: The way Planning Departments operate, which will “dismantle” corruption and accelerate the issuance of building permits, a hard deadline for Spatial Planning and the National Water Management Plan, with a presentation schedule immediately after the Thessaloniki International Fair.
Digital Governance will complete procedures for the Land Registry. Social Cohesion and Family for social contribution.
I will not expand on the initiatives, we must have a significance of adhering to schedules, something that matters for the Recovery Fund. The next 12 months are absolutely crucial for the resources
The Cabinet session is in progress, under Kyriakos Mitsotakis, with the central issue being the presentation by Interior Minister Theodoros Livanios of the new Local Government Code, which will now take the path to Parliament in September. This is a radical reform in the field of local government, with a change that will bring a small “revolution” for Greek standards being electronic voting. As reported by Kostas Papachlimitzou for parapolitika.gr, this is another tool to facilitate citizens in exercising their electoral rights, after the successful introduction of postal voting in the European elections, as the possibility of electronic voting will now be provided for local elections for those who wish it, while maintaining traditional voting with physical presence.
At the same time, a form of State ballot is being introduced for the first time. Depending on the number of council members, 1, 2 or 3 municipal councilors will be able to be elected without crosses, while in the Regions the corresponding number will be mandatory 2 or 3.
The new system for electing municipal and regional authorities is based on three basic principles:
● Election in one round
● 3/5 majority of the elected mayor and regional governor in municipal and regional councils
● Increased democratic legitimacy of mayor and regional governor
The remaining changes coming to the electoral process are as follows:
● Abolition of municipal units as electoral districts in municipalities – all municipalities in the country will be a unified electoral district
● Abolition of the possibility of detachment due to election of councilors from all bodies to services located at their place of election
● Update and simplification of control of debtors who have incompatibility
● Update of impediments/incompatibilities of municipal and regional councilors
● Redesign of the entire legislative framework concerning electoral expenses of candidate coalitions and generally the rules for conducting the
pre-election campaign (indicatively simplification of coalition bookkeeping in proportion to existing legislation for associations, redefinition of appearance restrictions, special provision for illegal poster placement, redefinition of maximum expense limits for coalitions and candidates, exemption from publication of data in the central database for candidate councilors)
For more effective exercise of legality control, the changes coming are as follows:
● Independent Local Government Control Services are immediately put into operation: The General Legality Supervision Service for Local Government is established headed by the General Legality Supervisor.
● Only digital document circulation: Legality control is carried out through the new electronic information system for faster processing.
● Random Assignment: The assignment of acts to the seven Independent Supervision Services is done randomly and a geographical incompatibility is imposed.
● Time Limits: A clear and binding time limit is established for controlling the legality of an act.
● General Local Government Legality Supervisor: Responsible for receiving complaints, for uniformity of control and coordination of Independent Local Government Control Services.
● General Supervisor – Legality Supervisors: Selected exclusively through civil service examination with high qualifications for candidates
● Special complaint reception office: A special office for receiving and evaluating complaints is created under the General Legality Supervisor
● Ability for ex officio control: The General Supervisor has the authority to conduct ex officio legality control on any Local Government act
Today’s cabinet meeting agenda
In detail, the topics of today’s cabinet session at the Maximos Mansion are:
● Presentation by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State Kostis Hatzidakis and Minister of State Akis Skertsos regarding the revision of the Unified Government Policy Plan – 25 reforms for the second half of 2025,
● Presentation by Interior Minister Theodoros Livanios of the Local Government Code,
● Presentation by Digital Governance Minister Dimitris Papastergiou of the bill for digital enhancement of road safety,
● Presentation by Justice Minister Giorgos Floridis of the bill for incorporating Directive 2024/1226 regarding the definition of criminal offenses for violation of Union restrictive measures and amending Directive 2018/1673
● Presentation by Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis of a comprehensive bill from his Ministry.
