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