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Parliament to hold emergency session tomorrow
The plenary session of the House of Representatives will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday after the recess on the Law on Collective Management of Intellectual Property and Related Rights.
The President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulidis, presented the law “On the collective management of intellectual and related rights and on the granting of multi-territorial licenses for the online use of musical works”, which had been adopted by the Parliament in the last plenary session before the summer shutdown on July 11. At the same time, the President referred three laws adopted by the plenary session directly to the Supreme Court.
The aforementioned law refers to a legislative amendment adopted after a legal proposal by DISY MP Kyriakos Hatzigiannis, which aims to improve the provisions on the levy and collection of fees by collective management organizations and independent management entities, as well as on the exercise of supervision and control by the Intellectual and Related Rights Administration. The law is considered necessary because it is believed that creators and artists do not receive money for their intellectual work.
In the grounds for impeachment, the president cited the law’s incompatibility with EU law, the principle of separation of powers, and articles 1A, 23, 25, 26, 28, 61, 80, 167 and 179 of the Constitution.
Among them, the amendments to the law against the obligation of collective management organizations to inform the state about their general meetings violate the principle of legal person autonomy and equality with other companies operating in the Republic.
President Christodoulis said the management cost limit introduced in the law to 10% of the total revenue of collective management organizations was also unconstitutional and in violation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
The obligation to negotiate fees between collecting societies and users was also deemed unconstitutional.
It was also considered that the obligation of public authorities to receive applications in electronic form violated the principle of separation of powers.
The Parliamentary Trade Committee has scheduled a special meeting to discuss the same issue at 09:30. The Attorney General of the Republic, George Savidis, and the Minister of Energy, Trade and Industry, George Papanastasiou, have been invited to attend the meeting.
Three petitions filed with the Supreme Constitutional Court
At the same time, the President of the Republic referred three laws adopted by the plenary session to the Supreme Constitutional Court, raising the issue of unconstitutionality and violation of the separation of powers and European legislation.
The first law, concerning the invalidity of state officials, was adopted on the basis of a legislative proposal from the Parliamentary Institutions Committee.
By law, Parliament has established regulations for the obligation of responsible officials or public figures to submit asset declarations electronically. The asset list also includes a list of assets and liabilities of the responsible person’s personal and professional property within and outside the Republic, which is prepared at cost price and includes the assets of his spouse or partner and dependent members of his family.
The law establishes a separate annex that includes specific officials and public figures who will make “insignificant” statements, including the Attorney General and assistant ministers, the director of the press office of the President of the Republic and the chairmen and vice chairmen of provincial autonomous organizations.
At the same time, the President reported to the Supreme Constitutional Court a law that further regulates the National Solidarity Fund (ETA) for unemployed savers. The law was adopted following a legal proposal by DISY MP Averof Neophytou.
The legislation amends the Act on the Special Tax on Credit Institutions to provide that, after the Recapitalization Fund has raised €175 million, any amount paid as the Special Tax on Credit Institutions and remaining in the Permanent Fund will be deposited into the National Solidarity Fund (ETA).
The amendment increases ETA’s special tax to 75% of total revenue from the initially proposed €60 million. The remaining amount is kept in a fixed fund, supplementing the welfare fund by 22.5%, bringing the total supplement to 75% of each member’s welfare fund.
In addition, the President of the Republic referred to the Supreme Constitutional Court’s “Amendment to the 2024 Law on Environmental Impact Assessment of Certain Projects” as the law was considered to violate the principle of separation of powers, the European Directive on Internal Services Market, but to assess the impact of public and private projects on the environment. It was also considered to violate Articles 1A, 61 and 179 of the Constitution.
The petition has been fixed for September 4 for the Supreme Court’s directions.
Source: KYPE
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