BRATISLAVA, September 5, (WEBNOVINY) — Speaker of Parliament Pavol Paska has convened the seventh session of Parliament whose program has 85 points. The session starts on Wednesday, September 11. The most disputed point on the agenda is the draft amendment to the Labor Code, to be presented by the Minister of Labor, Social Affairs and Family Jan Richter. MPs will also discuss in the first reading the draft bill on unfair terms of trade relations, the subject of which are food products, prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Parliament will definitely decide on the amendment of the excise tax on tobacco products that should come into force from October 1 and increase the price of a pack of cigarettes by about 10 cents. Approval is also expected of the amendments to the law on administrative fees, which increases fees in the public administration, construction activities, and in the transport sector. The Finance Ministry expects a total financial contribution from higher fees this year of nearly EUR 7 million and next year more than EUR 32 million.
In the first reading, the Slovak Parliament should debate the bill on payments for services provided by the public service Radio and Television Slovakia (RTVS), according to which citizens will continue paying concession fees also in 2013, although originally RTVS was supposed to be solely funded from the state budget.
A bill of the Education Ministry is awaiting final approval. According to the draft on secondary education, grammar schools should only accept students who at the end of the year in eighth grade and at the end of the first half of ninth grade had an average mark better than 2.0. The ministry wants the amendment to increase interest of primary school pupils to study at vocational schools and promote education in fields that are required by the labor market, but currently have a small number of graduates.
Parliament should also discuss forty draft bills submitted by members of parliament. Among them is a proposed change of the rules of procedure, according to which the speaker of parliament would have the right to add a new point on the agenda of the current session. So far, this could only be done at the proposal at least three caucuses. Because of this, the strongest parliamentary party that is governing alone has limited impact on the running of Parliament and wants to chance this.
In a secret ballot, MPs will try to elect a Chairman of the Supreme Audit Office (NKU) as well as two deputy chairpersons and members of the Board of Trustees of the Nation’s Memory Institute (UPN).
SITA