ATHENS – Greece will have public, university-level studies in the performing arts by 2025, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced in social media on Saturday.

In a post on Facebook, the premier clarified that the recent presidential decree does not regulate or change the way artists are employed or paid in the public sector for artistic or educational work.

The presidential decree sparked reactions from actors’ and artists’ unions, who say that it classifies the educational qualifications of all artists as non-university level.

Mitsotakis said that legislation is being launched that expressly excludes the hiring of artists in the public sector from the presidential decree, “so that there is no doubt that the government’s intentions are to support and upgrade – not to degrade the sector.”

“For this reason, we are immediately proceeding with another move, clarifying the salary landscape for artists so that it is clear to everyone that they are exempt from the system of public-sector hiring via the Supreme Council for Staff Selection (ASEP), and are paid in another way.”

Therefore, “in order to correct failures and mistakes that have been observed over time in local authorities, we are legislatively extending to municipalities the obligation to use a special payroll – and not the uniform payroll, so that our artists are hired and paid in a fair way that recognizes the particularities of the nature of the artistic profession,” he emphasized.