3.1 Liberalisation of coastal shipping cabotage
The legislative framework for coastal shipping in Greece is based on domestic legislation such as: Law 2932/200, Order No. 187/1973, 364/1988, 684/1976, Law 5570/1932, Presidential Order 814/74 and the EU source: Regulation 3577/1992. The adoption of the Regulation in January 2004 brought changes in the structure of the industry and business practices of coastal shipowners. These changes had significant political implications resulted on a few large private actors that supported and promoted reform either individually or through their reconfigured industry associations(1) Michael Joseph Romanos, “Shipping, the State and the Market, The evolving role of the European Union in international & Greek shipping politics/Case study on coastal shipping in the 1990s, London School of Economics, (2005).. Corporate restructuring, fleet modernisation and consolidation through mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures changed the coastal market scene(2) ibid.
In addition, the availability of capital through the growing equity market provided further opportunities for fleet expansion and market growth. By 2007, the market in coastal shipping was generally stable, registering a continuous increase of volume of goods and of passengers.(3) Simantiraki Thanai, “Europeanization of shipping policy in Greece: Evaluating the impact on the policy network”, National University of Athens However, from 2008 onwards the market decreased significantly due to the economic crisis. The number of foreign vessels operating in national markets by vessels not flying the national flag increased in regards to freight though still limited in respect of passengers(4) ibid.