There is nothing to report from Greece since the last edition of the Nanny State Index was published. It continues to be firmly mid-table, with much of the apparatus of the modern nanny state without some of the more extreme elements.

In 2019, the government launched the National Action Plan against smoking which strengthened the enforcement of a smoking ban that had been widely ignored since being passed eleven years earlier. Smoking is prohibited in all workplaces, bars and restaurants with no exceptions. Previously, there was an exemption for casinos and bars larger than 300 square metres which could allow smoking in designated areas no larger than half of the total floor space, but this was abolished by the Council of State, Greece’s highest court, in March 2019.

Smoking in taxis and public transport is forbidden as well as in private vehicles if there is a passenger under 12 years old. Outdoor sports stadiums and some outdoor areas frequented by children are also covered by the ban.

Tobacco retail displays are banned with the exception of specialist tobacco outlets such as kiosks and duty-free shops. The sale of cigarettes from vending machines was banned in 2009. Despite this frenzy of anti-smoking legislation, Greece still has the highest smoking rate in the EU.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, Greece has endured a wave of sin tax rises on everything from coffee to vape juice. Taxes on beer and spirits are very high compared to most countries in the index, although there is no wine duty (the Syriza government introduced a tax on wine for the first time in 2016, but this was annulled by Greece’s supreme administrative court in September 2018 and was abolished in January 2019).

E-cigarettes are legal, but Greeks cannot buy e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products or vaping fluids from other EU countries by mail order. E-cigarette advertising is banned everywhere except at point of sale and a tax on e-cigarette fluid of €0.10 per ml was introduced in January 2017. Vaping has been banned wherever smoking is banned since 2016. In March 2018, Greece’s High Court upheld the ban on vaping indoors. The previous government banned zero-nicotine e-cigarette liquids in an attempt to stop vapers mixing their own fluid, but this unusual law has now been repealed.

Alcohol advertising is mostly unrestricted although it cannot be broadcast on TV and radio during programmes that are targeted at children. Greece does not have plain packaging, mandatory closing time for bars or a sugar tax.

With thanks to Constantinos Saravakos, KEFiM - Centre for Liberal Studies