The Center for the Analysis and Prevention of Corruption (CAPC) welcomes the bills to amend the Law on Public Amenities and the Law on Local Public Administration, which were assessed from the perspective of human rights, but recommends reviewing a number of provisions.
In a news conference at IPN, CAPC expert Iulian Rusu said the informative note to the bill does not contain sufficient argumentation for its adoption. Though reference is made to the main goal of the bill (the adjustment of the national legislation so as to ensure the efficient implementation of the Law on the Public Water Supply and Sewerage Service), it contains only exemplificative explanations of the proposed amendments. The note does not explain each amendment apart and does not provide relevant legal and social explanations.
“The bill provides that the charges on public amenities are calculated in accordance with the costs incurred when providing the service. There are possibly no questions as regards the water supply and sewerage service, but the Law on Public Amenities refers also to other services, such as the drainage of pluvial water and waste removal, which are provided by the local public authorities. The given calculation norm cannot be applied in this case as there is no concrete beneficiary,” said Iulian Rusu.
The services provided by the public administration can have the form of a public-private partnership. In this case, there is a discrepancy between the legislation on the public-private partnership and the requirement that the provided services must fully reflect the costs.
Iulian Rusu noted that clear options should be provided as regards the separation or non-separation of the supplier from the distributor or the keeping of an operator of water supply and sewerage services. The appraisal report also recommends excluding the norms providing that the water supply and sewerage networks and installations are expropriated free.
The bills were appraised within the Harmonization of the Legislation with the International Standards on Human Rights Project that is supported financially by the Civil Rights Defenders of Sweden.
