The Plenary Session of the Parliament approved a series of important laws in the early hours of Friday, in a session that lasted more than nine hours. Among them, the abolition of the annual fee of €350 for companies, the extension of maternity leave to the first child, the extension of the reduction of consumption tax on fuel until the end of the month and a law for the implementation of the "Photovoltaics for All" plan.
Specifically, the Parliament approved the government bill for the abolition of the annual fee of €350 for all companies registered in the Registry of the Department of Companies and Intellectual Property. The fee was valid from 2011 until 2023. At the same time, the relevant legislative proposals submitted by MPs from all parties were withdrawn.
The bill had been tabled as an emergency and the relevant Committee on Energy, Commerce and Industry met during the Plenary to decide. The President of the DISY Parliamentary Committee Kyriakos Hatzigiannis reported to the Plenary that the executive power committed to return the money for the 1300 companies that have already paid the fee for 2024.
29 deputies voted in favor and 11 against.
At the same time, the Plenary voted unanimously on a law proposal submitted by DIKO MPs Chrysis Pantelidis and Panikos Leonidou, in order to enable the Renewable Energy Fund to implement grant schemes for the installation of photovoltaics within the framework of the "Photovoltaics for All" project, specifically the RES Fund &EXE will be able to grant a beneficiary part or all of the amount of the investment for photovoltaic installation and there will be an obligation to return part or all of the amount from the recipient of the grant to the Fund in question. This amount received as a sponsorship for the installation of photovoltaics will be returned through the electricity bills to the Fund.
Government bills to extend maternity leave and allowance to 22 weeks for the first child with immediate effect from the day the law is published and for mothers already on maternity leave were also unanimously approved.
The duration of maternity leave for the first child is increased from 18 to 22 weeks for childbirth or surrogacy, while it is increased for the adoption of the first child from 16 to 20 weeks.
There is also an increase from six weeks to an additional eight weeks in case of premature birth.
Finally, the Plenary unanimously approved the government's bill for the extension of the reduction in fuel consumption tax until March 31.
Source: KYPE