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The Constitution (Article 9A) provides for personal data protection, as is regulated by law. An independent Personal Data Protection Authority is entitled with the right to intervene and enforce penalties in cases of violation. The Hellenic Data Protection Authority (HDPA), a constitutionally consolidated independent Authority was established under Law 2472/97, Protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data which incorporates into Greek law the European Directive 95/46/EC which sets new rules for the protection of personal data in the member states of the European Union. In addition, the Hellenic Data Protection Authority implements Law 3471/2006 with respect to... read more →

Law 2121/1993, on Copyright, Related Rights Matters and Cultural Issues defines a comprehensive framework for copyright protection, including provisions for genres or work and modes of reproduction made possible through technological development; it accepts a broad definition of what constitutes a "work", including any "original intellectual literary, artistic or scientific creation expressed in any form", such as musical compositions, dramatic works, choreographies and pantomimes, audiovisual works, fine art, architecture, applied art, illustrations, maps etc., but also computer programmes and databases; multimedia productions are not mentioned by name, but are generally covered by the law. It also defines the moral rights... read more →

In order to practice some of the professions related to the cultural industries (especially the ones related to technical aspects of cinema or theatre production) it is necessary to have a special licence granted by the Ministry of Culture after fulfilment of certain criteria and specialised exams. Special provisions regarding unemployment rights for temporary workers apply to cultural professionals; however all social policy provisions are currently undergoing a general re-evaluation due to the financial crisis.

For many years, there have been few legal and financial incentives to promote sponsorship in the fields of culture and the arts. An Amendment to the Tax Law which provided tax exemptions for cultural sponsorship (1990) was practically rescinded under austerity economic policies in 1997. In 2007, however, legislation was introduced to offer some tax incentives for arts sponsorship; a central bureau has been set up, firstly to certify that a given sponsorship initiative is indeed for a bona fide cultural cause, and, secondly, to produce a list of priority projects in arts and heritage for which sponsorship will be... read more →

Collective agreements for performing artists, such as actors, were established upon the initiative of Melina Mercouri in the early 1980s. Such agreements have been established with public television and radio companies and between the Association of Greek Actors with theatre entrepreneurs. Typically, performers work on short term engagements, either as independent contractors or on a day salary basis, and often find it difficult to collect the necessary time credits in order to be paid a full pension or have access to unemployment benefits. Culture professionals benefit from general provisions with regard to pensions and social security, such as a national... read more →

No special legislation applies to the allocation of public funds for culture. The amount of public funding for the cultural organisations supervised by the Ministry of Culture is reflected in the budget planning of the Ministry and varies each year depending on the government's budget allocated to culture. Since 2012, funding of cultural organisations is subject to a new system that foresees the prior registration of cultural organisations in a Register of Cultural Organisations as a prerequisite for funding eligibility. Organisations submit their funding requests after an open call launched by the Ministry on an annual basis addressed to all... read more →

Article 16 of the Constitution stipulates the right of all to art and culture, and the responsibility of the state to promote it. In addition, Article 24 states that the protection of the cultural environment (including monuments, traditional areas and traditional elements of the environment) is a right of all and an obligation of the state.

No further policies have been identified in the context of this report.

The Greek Constitution was recently amended to assert the right of all citizens to take part in the information society. According to a 2007 Eurobarometer survey (published in 2011), only 25% of Greeks use the Internet at least once a month, about half the European average. Several reasons have been put forward to explain low levels of access and participation: limited digital literacy; an extroverted, going-out lifestyle, favouring face-to-face interaction over solitary engagement on the Internet; the current scarcity of useful or interesting Greece-based content and services accessible through the Internet. Recent qualitative changes are, however, noticeable: in 2007, 28%... read more →

Equal participation of women in public, professional, social and cultural life has been recognised as a broader policy objective since the 1980s, when a General Secretariat for (Gender) Equality was established under the Ministry of the Interior. Some practical initiatives undertaken through programmes co-funded by the EU include financial support to women entrepreneurs, or development of gender studies programmes in academic curricula. Gender stereotypes have been increasingly challenged in recent years, especially in metropolitan areas, but gender issues remain a peripheral, rather than central, issue in public policy debates. In recent years, a mainstreaming approach to issues of gender equality... read more →