September 7 – September 24

Senatorial Amendment Act on Acceleration of Construction of Transport Infrastructure (416/2009 Coll., Parliamentary Print no. 24) went through first reading in the Chamber of Deputies on Sept 24. The aim of the amendment act is to accelerate the construction of land, water and energy transport infrastructure by making administrative proceedings less complicated. The government rejected the draft amendment act in August stating that the proposed changes, introducing new definitions and terms, would not accelerate administrative proceedings, and promised to prepare their own proposal on this matter. The draft amendment act is now being debated by Parliamentary Committees. Click here for details.

The amendment Act on Public Procurement (Parliamentary Print no. 45) had its third reading in the Chamber of Deputies on Sept 24. The amendment act by Veci verejne proposes to abolish changes to Article 53 of the Act on Public Procurement 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 were 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, Veci verejne have reasoned. The Senate debated the draft amendment act at its October 27 session and returned the draft to the Chamber of Deputies with changing proposals. Click here for details.