Documents

This own-initiative opinion studies the trends observed in recent years in prices on the domestic market for products and services, and analyses the factors that have influenced the cost of living in Greece. It also presents the suggestions of the social partners for shielding prices from speculation.

This draft law aims to incorporate within national law the Internal Regulations of the Council of Bureaux relating to the insurance coverage of cars from other countries involved in accidents in Greece. It also aims to tidy up some of the provisions and requirements of the related insurance agreement. The law contains provisions directly regulating the contractual relationship between the insurer and the insured party in vehicle insurance contracts.

The Council in plenary session ? employers, trade unions and other organizations representing civil society ? welcomes the bill and regards the creation of a national dependent care system as a vital step forward in the process of modernizing Spain?s welfare system.The Council highlights the need for the minimum content of benefits that is to be specified by the law to meet the criteria of sufficiency and appropriateness to the needs of dependents, guaranteeing the principle of inter-regional equity.The Council notes that the determining of homogenous benefits across the country should be a task for the Council of the Regions (Consejo Territorial), and that the agreements with the Autonomous Regions should establish their application to each Region?s population.As to the system?s funding, the Council stresses that it should be stable, sufficient and sustained over time.

The changes introduced by this bill extend the scope of contract regulations to the whole public sector and provide for their application even to private organizations awarding contracts that are subsidized by public bodies. The bill was prompted chiefly by the need to transpose a new EU directive in this field and also to consolidate the three previous directives in a single law. The aim is to guarantee competition between bidders from various Member States and to provide for the possibility of including environmental and social criteria in public contract awards.The Council notes the lack of time for the various interested parties to take part, particularly the private-sector operators called on to cooperate with the public sector in the law?s application. Their involvement would have cleared up doubts about the changes and novelties introduced in such a major, well-established body of administrative law as that on public procurement.It is right to extend the scope of contract law to the whole public sector, given the trend in recent years for the setting up of proxy bodies.The Council also supports the inclusion of social and environmental clauses in the assessment and implementation of tenders, especially as regards support for quality in employment and reducing the proportion of temporary contracts.Moreover, the creation of a Registery of Public Sector Contracts as a central information system, containing basic data on contract awards by the various tiers of public administration and other bodies covered by the law, will be a vital aid not only to the analysis and understanding of public procurement but also to facilitating future reviews of tender procedures for public works and services.The Council proposes limiting public-sector subcontracting to two levels and notes the lack of specific detail regarding the new contracts for public-private partnerships, requesting clarification of this point.

The Republic of Bulgaria as a future member of the European community as of January 2007 will have to apply the Lisbon Strategy criteria for competitiveness. The lagging behind from the EU countries will have to be cut down in relation with productivity and competitiveness, revenues and consumption, technological renovation, infrastructure, education and science, regional development.<br>The mid-term review of the execution of the Lisbon targets and the renewal of the Lisbon Strategy of March 2005 set new requirements to the state apparatus, civil society and the population of the Republic of Bulgaria.

OPINION 1/2006 on the Draft Ministerial Order implementing the railway sector law with regard to the conditions and requirements for the qualifications and authorizations required of staff in the railway sector performing tasks related to safety, and the rules for the approval and operation of centres for the training of such staff and the certification of their psychophysical aptitude The Draft Ministerial Order seeks to provide the necessary regulatory development of the new model for Spanish railways laid down in the Railway Sector Law. That Law introduced an organizational and functional separation of management, maintenance and operation in the general-interest railway network. It initiated a complex reworking of the sector with a view to opening it up to competition, requiring the progressive adoption of various regulations to make the new model operational.The Council?s general remarks include the observation that workers? right to move freely between any company employing them should be preserved. Moreover, legal guarantees are needed in the regulation of the qualifications and authorizations required of railway staff.

The stated aim of the draft royal decree submitted to the Council?s consideration is to simplify the administrative formalities involved in the concluding of information exchange agreements on bad debt by competing companies, without prejudice to the provisions of the Antitrust Law. The draft royal decree would therefore replace the current system for case-by-case authorization of such agreements by the Antitrust Court with an exemption for these agreements based on the case-law and experience built up since the Antitrust Law?s entry into force.The Council welcomes this change in as much as it helps streamline the process and reduce the administrative burdens and costs borne by companies each time they apply for a new authorization for the creation of files of debt defaulters and/or renew their existing authorizations when their terms expire.Also worth noting is the need to establish sufficient guarantees to ensure that information transmitted to users of the file is objective, to which end the text should be more explicit, clearly developing the concept of objectivity.

This draft law undertakes to clarify provisions and requirements for the production, sale, distribution and transport of dough and bakery products, and the bake-off process. It lists the various bakery products and derivatives and procedures for their production, while also setting out rules for the labelling and packaging of bakery products.

This draft law abolishes the exclusive list of reimbursable medicines. It also establishes a new procedure for determining reimbursement levels, without providing for a deadline for implementation. Pending the entry into force of the procedure, the recently established system for setting the prices of new drugs will apply (Law No. 3408/2005, Article 13).

This draft legislation encompasses the following areas: Family support and additional measures, Support for large families and social solidarity measures. In certain cases, the law classifies families with three children or more as being large families.

In 2004, the Dutch Presidency of the European Union put the theme of 'eco-efficiency as economic opportunity' on the Union's political agenda. This theme met with great support, including that of the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands (SER). In this report, the SER endorses the Cabinet in its aims to promote innovations that will simultaneously offer economic opportunities and benefit the environment. The SER believes that European and national measures must be taken to give these eco-efficient innovations a powerful stimulus.

Control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances - Draft cooperation agreement between the Federal State, the Flemish Region, the Walloon Region and the Brussels Capital Region, modifying the cooperation agreement of 21 June 1999 between the Federal State, the Flemish Region, the Walloon Region and the Brussels Capital Region - opinion 1539

The Council welcomes the bill in as much as it provides a regulatory framework for the rights and duties of Spanish citizens living abroad, of those exercising the right to free circulation within the EU, of those travelling abroad, and of emigrants returning home and their families. The Council also welcomes the defining of principles for an integral return policy, developing article 42 of the Constitution. The opinion deems that the bill?s approach is too general, and therefore the real scope of some of its provisions cannot be gauged. The bill should more clearly specify the protected situations and the basic conditions for the exercise of the rights and duties involved.The Council points to deficiencies in the economic memorandum as regards the suitability of the budget provided for the aims pursued.

The bill?s aim of improving protection for consumers and users is welcomed by the Council given that guaranteeing the protection of consumers and users? legitimate interests (art. 51 of the Constitution) is a goal widely supported by the organizations that it represents. The Council?s opinion also notes that the principle of free enterprise within a market economy provided for in article 38 of the Constitution guarantees and protects the commercial offering of products and services in a framework of free competition. With these premises, the Council makes the following reflections on specific aspects of the bill:In telephony, the rounding up of charges for time used in calls should be defined in more detail with a view to safeguarding companies? freedom to make special offers.As to car-parking charges, the Council suggests that set rates may be charged for a minimum stay, after which the actual parking time would be charged for as provided in the bill.