The POX (Panhellenic Federation of Hoteliers) returns to the issue of delays in environmental licensing for tourist accommodations, asking, in a letter to the Minister of Environment and Energy, Stavros Papastavrou, that the deadline which currently expires on October 31, 2025, be extended.
As the Federation emphasizes, the volume of pending files and the lack of technical personnel make it impossible to complete the procedures within the year, a fact that threatens to lead to mass revocations of Special Operating Permits (E.S.L.).
Under the current framework, tourism enterprises are required to submit relevant documentation by October 31, 2025, otherwise their Special Operating Permit is automatically revoked. However, POX stresses that delays in environmental licensing remain substantial, making compliance with the deadline unfeasible. Moreover, that date coincides with the end of the tourist season, when businesses struggle to meet time-consuming administrative procedures, and in tourist regions there is a shortage of specialized engineers.
The Federation proposes that the deadline be shifted to April 30, 2026, so that the responsible services are given the necessary time to process the outstanding files and to prevent a wave of E.S.L. revocations that would generate “administrative asphyxiation.” As they point out, this extension places no burden on the State, since it concerns only those establishments that have already submitted a request for issuance or renewal of an A.E.P.O. or inclusion in a P.P.D.
The letter was also notified to the Minister of Tourism, Olga Kefalogianni.
The letter (text excerpt)
“– To Mr. Stavros Papastavrou, Minister of Environment and Energy
– Copy: Mrs. Olga Kefalogianni, Minister of Tourism
Dear Mr. Minister,
We have repeatedly pointed out the significant delays that continue to occur in the process of environmental licensing of tourist accommodations. Despite the legislative efforts made to simplify and accelerate the relevant procedures, the time required for their completion remains particularly long.
Within this context, under Article 7A of Law 4276/2014 the following are stipulated: … (the letter continues, detailing legal provisions on operation, revocation, obligations).
However, paragraph 5 of the said article, which provides that the submission of the A.E.P.O. or the declaration for inclusion in P.P.D. must be completed by October 31, 2025, has proven insufficient. The processes of environmental licensing remain especially time-consuming, while the large number of applications submitted under the above provision has led to a significant backlog in the competent services. This makes it objectively impossible to complete all the dossiers in time during 2025.
In addition, the deadline of October 31 coincides with the end of the tourist season, a period during which enterprises find it extremely difficult to comply with demanding administrative procedures, such as the search and submission of additional documents often requested by the services, considering also the fact that there is no adequate number of specialized engineers in tourist regions.
Since untimely completion of the process entails automatic revocation of the E.S.L., the extension of the deadline of paragraph 5 of Article 7A of Law 4276/2014 to April 30, 2026 is proposed. The proposed extension is considered entirely reasonable and necessary, because it provides the required time for the competent services to finalize the pending files, prevents artificial administrative “asphyxiation” that would arise from the simultaneous expiration of a large number of cases, ensures the smooth transition into the new 2026 tourist season without sudden revocations of E.S.L., and does not impose any administrative or other burden on the State, since it pertains exclusively to cases in which a request has already been submitted for the issuance or renewal of an A.E.P.O. or for inclusion in a P.P.D.
We remain at your disposal for clarification.
Yours sincerely,
Giannis Chatzis, President of the Board
Angelos Kallias, General Secretary”
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