In short, the driver of a car with foreign plates will be expected to be able to show the ship's ticket with which he brought the car here. If he is working in Greece he does not have the right to drive a car with foreign plates, so he will also be obliged to show his two most recent annual tax statements from the country in which he is resident. This sounds absurd if one imagines police pulling aside the vehicles of holidaymakers to ask them for their tax records, but it is intended to make the job easier for officers who suspect that the driver is not a tourist. For example, the traffic police stopped someone the other day. Diplomats, foreign correspondents, people on contracts with the state and foreign students are among those entitled to permits.
Officials believe that there are many more vehicles driving around illegally.
They are driving around with expired licence plates, without insurance. They might kill someone and you can't find out who owns the car. The new law would seem to fly in the face of moves to achieve greater economic and political integration in the European Union, but Tzoufas says that the change is aimed at eradicating abuses by Greeks who tried to acquire cars without paying the duties on them. It is easier for us to apply the law now. The car was allowed in for the purpose of tourism and some people tried to use it as a permanent vehicle.