PASKEDI, Greece’s Association of Facilities and Consumers in Catering recently decided to appeal the latest smoking-ban law which has been enforced throughout the country since November of 2019.
The PASKEDI association filed a petition before Greece’s Council of State, the country’s supreme administrative court, asking for the complete annulment of the smoking ban, which was first introduced in 2009 but reformed and strictly enforced last year.
In its statement, the association claimed that its aim is to ”protect the general interests of catering business owners.”
The association, as well as a number of politicians and businessmen, claim that businesses such as restaurants, bars, cafes, tavernas and many more have been enduring severe financial hardship since the strict enforcement of the ban.
Of course, the government’s response to this argument is that by enforcing a universal ban, there is no preferential treatment, which could lead to some businesses profiting and others suffering financial losses.
PASKEDI claims that the Greek authorities should have enforced much milder, transitional phases to the legislation.
The association even claims that the universal smoking ban ”violates people’s freedom to develop their personality and professional freedoms.”
It is still not known when the Council of State will rule on this petition.
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