The cabinet ministers (source: SITA)
The government will hold a session on August 17 after six weeks of hiatus. Ministers are set to discuss a whole series of legislative changes that should be assessed in order to be included in the parliamentary session scheduled for September, the TASR newswire reported.
Culture Minister Marek Maďarič (Smer) will submit an amendment concerning the fees paid for the services provided by public-service broadcaster RTVS, a move that in its earlier stages encountered resistance from the co-governing Slovak National Party (SNS). Maďarič proposes increasing licence fees gradually. Moreover, people in financial distress receiving state aid should be exempt from paying.
In addition, Justice Minister Lucia Žitňanská (Most-Híd) will present the first parts of her justice reforms, including a law aimed at letterbox companies that should increase the transparency of activities funded by public resources. The law should allow only entities that fully disclose their ownership structures to do business with the state, TASR wrote.
The cabinet should also discuss the issue of re-exporting medicines from Slovakia. Health Minister Tomáš Drucker (Smer nominee) wants to push through a measure that would allow only producers, not distribution companies, to re-export.
Meanwhile, Environment Minister László Solymos (Most-Híd) would like to decrease the consumption of plastic bags by making people pay for them at all outlets. An organisation called Envi-pak has estimated that on average each Slovak consumes 466 plastic bags annually, while the average consumption in the EU is 200 bags per person, TASR reported.
