Source: www.vlada.cz, www.psp.cz

The Government rejected draft Act on Abolishing Bearers´ Shares (22) by CSSD at its session on August 11. One of the reasons mentioned by the Government is that the proposed act would not help make ownership structure of contractors in public procurement more transparent and would not prevent abuse of bearer shares in decision-making in the procurement process. Also, the draft act does not address all legal and legitimate methods that enable actual owners of bearer shares to stay hidden (ownership through a person domiciled abroad, founding a company abroad and transferring its domicile to the Czech Republic, quiet partnerships, etc.), the Government has said in an explanatory statement. The proposed draft act will be discussed by the Chamber of Deputies. The next session of the Chamber will be held on September 21. For more click here.

The Government passed draft amendment act by Veci verejne proposing to abolish changes to Article 53 of the Act on Public Procurement (45) that were adopted by the Chamber of Deputies on May 18, 2010 and were supposed to take effect on September 15. Under Article 53, bidders are asked to submit as part of their bid an up-to-date list of shareholders and a list of employees or members of statutory bodies who have worked for the procurement agency in a senior position and made procurement-related decisions within 3 years preceding the call for tender. Both requirements are difficult to meet for bidders and could have discriminatory effect on companies that hold bearer shares, VV has reasoned. The proposed amendment will be discussed by the Chamber of Deputies. The next session of the Chamber will be held on September 21. For more click here.

The Government established the National Economic Council (NERV) on August 4. The 15-member expert committee should advise the Government on crucial economic issues. Former PM M.Topolanek came up with the idea of NERV in January 2009. Out of 11 members of Topolanek’s NERV, 8 experts were appointed to the new NERV established by PM P.Necas. Remaining 7 members include experts such as a pension reform specialist V.Bezdek and former Finance Minister E.Janota, for example. For more click here.

The Government approved Methodology of Evaluation of Results of Research Organisations and Evaluation of Results of Completed Programmes at its session on August 4. Research results produced by research institutions in the recent 5 years will be evaluated. Score-based evaluation of individual research results should serve as a base for planning future funding of research organizations. The implementation of the methodology should give an overview of results of research and development projects funded from public resources and help allocate public resources more effectively. For more click here.

At its session on July 21, the Government rejected draft amendment to the Act on Public Health Insurance and related acts (9) by CSSD proposing to abolish all regulatory fees in the health care sector (charges per item on a medical prescription, per hospital stay, etc.). The proposed amendment will be debated by the Chamber of Deputies. The next session of the Chamber will be held on September 21. For more click here.