A lot of work awaits the new Parliament in order to pass the reform bills, which have been set as prerequisites for raising € 1.2 billion from the EU Recovery and Sustainability Fund, with 22 laws and regulations in need of legislative approval by the end of 2021.
The annex and the relevant information note given by the President of the Republic Nikos Anastasiadis to the political leaders note that 23 reform bills are pending before the Parliament “20 of which must be voted by the new House of Representatives by December 2021 at the latest” .
In addition, according to the annex, in addition to the 23 bills pending in Parliament for approval, another 28 bills are expected to be submitted, which are related to the Recovery Fund. The period for the adoption of the reforms starts from December 2021 and extends until December 2025.
Twenty-two laws by the end of 2021
In the field of climate neutrality, energy efficiency and the penetration of renewable energy sources – RES, it is stated that the Law on Regulation of the Electricity Market (Amendment) of 2021 must be approved by the end of this year.
In the field of Public Administration reform, by December 2021 the Parliament will have to approve the Law on Public Service (Amendment), the Law on Evaluation of Candidates for Promotion, Interdepartmental Promotion and First Appointment and Promotion in Public Service. on Public Service (Employee Evaluation) Regulations.
The reforms that must be approved this year include the reform of Local Government and spatial planning, with the Communities (Amending) Law of 2020, the Municipalities (Amending) Law of 2020 being included in the prerequisites until 2021.
By 2021, the bills for the reform of the Judiciary must be approved. These are the Law on the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of 2021 “, the Law on the Administration of Justice (Various Provisions) (Amendment) Law of 2021”, and the Law on Courts (Amendment) of 2021. This section also includes the bills for the establishment and operation of the Commercial Court and the Maritime Court in Cyprus, ie the Law on Commercial Court and Maritime Court of 2019, the Law on Courts (Amending) of 2019 “, as well as the Law on Courts (Amending) (No. 6) Law of 2019 – for the extension of the jurisdiction of the Supreme District Judge and the District Judge “and the Law on Courts (Amending) of 2019 – for the creation, within the District Court, of a new special jurisdiction for the adjudication of disputes arising from or in in relation to credit facilities or securities.
In the field of Justice, it is stated that the above bills are included in the Action Plan, which will be submitted to the European Commission in December 2021, in order to achieve the commitment of the Republic of Cyprus to reduce overdue cases by 20% by June 2024 and by 40% until June 2026.
In the field of anti-corruption, the 2021 commitments include the 2019 Law on Transparency in Public Decision-Making and Related Matters (lobbying and incompatibility issues) and the Report on Corruption Reporting Act 2017 (on the protection of those who disclose elements related to acts of corruption).
Five bills, which are pending before the Parliament, must be approved by the end of 2021 in the field of ensuring fiscal and financial stability. This is the Law on the Purchase and Sale of Credit Facilities and Related Issues (Amendment) of 2021 “, the Law on Real Estate Property (Possession, Registration and Valuation) (Amending) Law of 2021 “, the Law on Transfer and Mortgage of Property (Amending) of 2021”, the Income Tax (amending) (No. 1) Law of 2021 “and the Law of 2021 Extraordinary Contribution for the Defense of the Republic (amendment) (No. 2) Law of 2021 “.
In addition, among the bills that are expected to be submitted at a later stage under the conditions for obtaining the subsidies of the Recovery Fund, for 2021 were included the bills entitled Transmission and Distribution Rules (RTM) and Electricity Purchasing Rules (KAH) related, with climate neutrality, energy efficiency and penetration of renewable energy sources – RES, as well as the creation of a regulatory framework for energy storage with the aim of further penetration of RES.
