Plenary

At a plenary session on Wednesday, the Chamber of Deputies passed, 307 to 1, a bill amending and supplementing Law 227/2015 on the Tax Code regulating taxation of old-age income and allowances.

Former parliamentary speaker Anna Benaki-Psarouda will assume the presidency of the Academy of Athens for the year 2020 on January 1, following a decision of its plenary session.
Psarouda, who was the country's first female House speaker from 2004-07, is currently the academy's vice president and will replace Stefanos Immelos.

In a joint session on Monday, Parliament's standing bureaus decided that the ministers-designate of the Orban Cabinet will be heard for confirmation on Tuesday and Wednesday, while next Monday a joint plenary session will be held in which to vote on the new cabinet.

Senate President Calin Popescu-Tariceanu announced on Monday, in plenary session, his resignation from office, which he held for 5 years. "I did not cling to this position. (...) I will continue to involve myself politically," said Tariceanu, in the Senate's plenary session. "Today is my last day as Senate President of Romania.

The head of the Greek National Commission for Human Rights (GNCHR), Giorgos Stavropoulos, resigned on Thursday, describing it as "the only dignified reaction" to the government's "disregard" for the independent body and its work.

The Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday suspended its plenary session for the lack of a quorum. Florin Iordache, chairman of the meeting, asked for a verification, which revealed that the quorum was not met as only 110 MPs were present. "There are 110 attendees; there is not a quorum. Given the circumstances, I have to suspend the session," Iordache said.

The plenary of the Council of State will convene in the first months of 2019 to decide on the size of the retroactive payments due to public sector employees who challenged the constitutionality of a 2012 law scrapping a special bonus paid out on the Christmas, Easter and summer holidays.

The Supreme Labor Council's (ASE) plenary approved on Friday the extension of the first four sector labor contracts.

The first plenary session of the informal meeting of EU Health Ministers in Sofia is under way. It will be dedicated to the healthy nutrition for children, one of the priorities of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU in the health sector.

Expect more details later.

The informal meeting of the ministers responsible for competitiveness in sections "Industry" and "Research" will be held on 1 and 2 February 2018. The meeting for the "Industry" section will be presided over by the Minister of Economy, Emil Karanikolov, and the "Research" section - by the Minister of Education and Science, Krasimir Valchev.   

 „Industry" section - 1 February 2018