Indicator history

According to Art. 4 of the Law 3304/05, the provisions of the Law "do not cover cases of difference of treatment based on nationality and is without prejudice to provisions and conditions relating to the entry into and residence of third-country nationals and stateless persons on the territory of Member States, and to any treatment which arises from the legal status of the third-country nationals and stateless persons concerned".

The "citizenship exception" is considered to be the main reason that very few members approach the trade unions with racial/ethnic related complaints: 'partly because of the low levels of awareness and inadequate cover, but also because the majority of their members are from the public sector that employs only Greek citizens.

The Greek Ombudsman also considers that it is not possible to deal with a number of discrimination cases regarding discriminatory treatment on grounds of citizenship which do not fall within the regulatory scope of law n.3034/2005: The Greek Ombudsman has received relevant complaints which, despite their exclusion from the protective scope of legal statutes prohibiting discrimination on grounds of citizenship, raise suspicions of a latent discriminatory treatment on grounds of racial or ethnic origin'. According to the Ombudsman, this general citizenship exception clause excluding such cases ‘seems to be favouring discriminatory practices against foreigners on grounds of racial or ethnic origin.'The Ombudsman points out that 'it is rather imperative to reassess the regulatory framework that pertains to the exclusion of citizenship from statutory regulation, especially in what regards third-country nationals who have been residing in Greece for a long period of time [1 & 2].