ATHENS (Reuters) -- Greek lawmakers voted to open up road freight to competition on Wednesday, prompting angry truck drivers to block the two main roads to the capital and clash with police in front of parliament.

Riot police fired teargas at some 200 truck drivers after they tried to break into parliament, throwing tomatoes, wooden sticks, plastic bottles and stones, a Reuters witness said.
The truckers also blocked Athens’ highways after parliament agreed in a preliminary vote to scrap the decades-old system of licences worth hundreds of thousands of euros to replace them by a system that covers only administrative costs.
Truck drivers had blocked the country for six days in July to protest against the new legislation and some 2,000 marched to parliament this week. But the ruling Socialists pressed ahead with the plan, required by the EU and the IMF.
“Fearing the political cost and truckers’ reactions, past governments have shirked from taking this initiative. This changes now. We are daring to do it,” Infrastructure Minister Dimitris Reppas told parliament just before the clashes.
Road freight is one of the most closed professions in Greece – along with pharmacists, architects and lawyers – with no new licenses issued for decades.
The final vote of the road freight bill is due later in the day. The socialists have a comfortable majority and it is expected to pass easily.