The President of the Republic, Speaker of the Parliament, Anita Demetriou, referred three laws concerning the Law on the Operation of the Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Saving Fund of 2022, the Law on the Specification of Sustainability Criteria and Reduction of Fuel Emissions of 2022 and the Law on the Promotion and Encouragement of the Use of Renewable Energy Sources of 2022.
Specifically, she referred the Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Saving Fund Operation Law of 2022[/B] for reconsideration in a letter to the Speaker of Parliament, Zacharias Koulias, dated June 23. The letter of the President of the Republic Nicos Anastasiades was received on June 23.
As mentioned, the House of Representatives introduced in the law under review an article according to which a consumer representative has been included as a member of the management committee of the Renewable Energy and Energy Saving Fund on the recommendation of legally constituted organisations or associations representing consumers. The letter states that this new provision which is introduced by the law under reference may adversely affect the legal constitution and composition of the committee since the provision is general and vague.
In particular, it adds, the associations or organisations representing consumers are not defined by the legislation in force and the law under reference does not define who these associations or organisations representing consumers are and, therefore, the executive does not know which associations or organisations should be contacted in order for them to It is further stated that in the event that the consumer associations or organisations do not reach an agreement as to their representative, this will affect the lawful constitution of the committee and its functioning in general since it may result in the committee not being constituted as a body as it ought to be.
In addition, the law under reference introduced a provision which increased the membership of the committee from five to seven, although for quorum purposes the reference in the law to the presence of the chairman and two members remained. An amendment was proposed to increase the number of persons required by law to be present at meetings of the committee for purposes of quorum of the committee to ensure the legitimacy of committee meetings.
The Sustainability and Fuel Emission Reduction Criteria Specifications Act, 2022 was also referred for reconsideration in a letter from the Speaker of the Republic to the Speaker of the House of Assembly dated June 23. The letter from the President of the Republic was received on 23 June. The reason for the referral relates to the insertion in an article of the phrase meaning that conditions of unfair competition are not created.
As stated, the insertion of this phrase in addition to not being provided for in the EU directive limits the discretion of the Minister, while the retention of the phrase in question may limit the ability of the State to support one technology over others such as the support of electricity for charging electric vehicles or renewable liquid and gaseous transport fuels of non-biological Furthermore, it is not defined what the conditions of unfair competition are, so that the interpretation of this phrase is not clear.
The President of the Republic also referred the Law on the Promotion and Encouragement of the Use of Renewable Energy Sources of 2022 for reconsideration in a letter to the President of the Parliament dated 23 June. The letter of the President of the Republic was received on 23 June.
One reason for the referral is that articles of the law under referral provide for shorter maximum acceptable timeframes for the completion of the licensing procedure for renewable energy projects than those provided as an option in an article of the Directive (EU). These timeframes are considered highly restrictive and are expected to result in an increase in administrative costs for the authorities involved in the licensing of renewable energy plants and possibly a reduction in the quality of the services offered CNA
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