RECREATION CENTRES - WHAT DOES THE LAW PROPOSAL PROVIDE? - Filenews 29/3 by Eleftheria Paizanou
The government may have withdrawn the bill for the operation of restaurants and entertainment venues in the nick of time, as it disagreed with the final text as formulated by the parties, but a few days later it was "resubmitted" to Parliament. And this, as the DISY MP, Kyriakos Hatzigiannis, reflected the bill, as formulated by the parliamentary Committee on Trade, in a bill proposal, which was submitted on Thursday to the Plenary Session of the Parliament.
In fact, the bill will be put under the microscope of the parliamentary Committee on Trade again on Tuesday with the aim of taking it to the Plenary and approving it before the self-dissolution of Parliament.
When the Deputy Ministry of Tourism withdrew the bill a few hours before it was put before the Legislative Body, it provoked a strong reaction from MPs, who had considered it for over five months and in ten sessions. A peak point was the issue of the opening hours of catering establishments, as well as the provisions for noise pollution, since the positions of the parties differed from those of the government.
Essentially, the bill provides for what was agreed between the members of the Trade Committee, with the most important change being the working hours. Specifically, according to the final text, taverns and pubs could remain open, all year round, until 3:30 in the morning, while music and dance clubs and discotheques until 5 in the morning by ministerial decree.
In detail, the opening hours of catering establishments are as follows:
– "Catering and recreation" category premises as well as "entertainment" category premises can remain open until 3:30 a.m. the next day.
– The Minister of Energy, following a proposal by the Deputy Minister of Tourism, is given the opportunity by decree to extend the opening hours of recreation areas, so that they can remain open beyond 3:30 a.m., but not later than 5:00 a.m.
– It is possible to issue a special operating license for non-licensed premises that were operating before the date of entry into force of the new law, in accordance with the prescribed procedure and provided that the prescribed conditions are met, with the exception of closed-type premises.
With the proposed law, the competent authority for issuing a license for the operation of a catering and entertainment venue is the municipal council or the community council for premises located within the boundaries of the relevant municipality or community, instead of the general director of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, as provided for in the Government's initial proposal.
The Minister of the Interior is also given the power to delegate the powers of the community council as the competent authority for the issuance of a license for the operation of a recreation area to the relevant prefect. Recreation areas that operate within the grounds of a hotel or tourist accommodation and are rented to third parties are exempt from the obligation to obtain a license to operate a recreation area.
The Deputy Ministry of Tourism should keep a general register of licenses for the operation of recreational areas issued by the competent authorities. At the same time, the Deputy Ministry of Tourism is given the power to carry out any inspections it deems necessary in the recreation areas for the purpose of ensuring compliance with the tourism strategy and to recommend corrective measures to them, informing the competent authority accordingly. The operating license fee will cover the entire period of its validity. At the same time, the obligation to submit a new, updated application is imposed, in case of change in the data or data included in the submitted application after the date of its submission. For the issuance of a license to operate a catering establishment, the presentation of a copy of a letter from the Department of Labour Inspection for the existence of a written risk assessment will not be required. Finally, banquet halls are exempt from the obligation to post a price list.
