New development draft law to be voted during Thursday evening's plenary session

The bill, titled "I invest in Greece, and other regulations", is being discussed in Parliament's plenary session.

Leading regulations in the draft bill focus on productive investments and simplifying processes for investors, particularly in the environment, urban planning and land use planning regulations, while keeping in mind the public interest. Regulations streamlining processes will affect almost all ministries and aim at reversing one of the lowest rates of foreign investments in EU countries. In tandem, the unemployment rate remains one of the highest in the EU, the government said, while the trade deficit had risen 6.3 pct relative to last year, reaching nearly 2 billion euros.

Labor measures included in the proposal have brought fierce criticism by parties of the opposition, but the government response has been that it protects jobs by salvaging businesses on the brink of collapse.