10/04/2024 The National Assembly unanimously adopted amendments to the Health Act related to the treatment of rare diseases

10/04/2024

The National Assembly adopted at first and second reading amendments to the Health Act related to the treatment of rare diseases The amendments tabled by Kiril Petkov ("We continue the change - Democratic Bulgaria") and a group of MPs were unanimously supported in both votes.

The changes provide for the treatment of rare diseases with medicinal products and dietary foods for special medical purposes, that started before the patient reached the age of 18, to continue to be paid for with funds from the state budget also after the age of majority until the end of treatment. According to the submitters, this will guarantee access to treatment and ensure its continuity for these patients, regardless of their age.

The National Assembly adopted at second reading amendments to the Tax and Social Insurance Procedure Code, which allow for a reduced administrative burden against a bank guarantee of BGN 1 million in favour of the National Revenue Agency. The amendments were submitted by Bozhidar Bozhanov ("We continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria") and a group of MPs.

The changes provide a legal opportunity for persons who have previously provided a total bank guarantee in the amount of not less than BGN 1,000,000 to reduce the administrative burden in respect of the fiscal control exercised by the National Revenue Agency related to goods with high fiscal risk by reducing the time needed to carry out the control actions or checks on the movement of goods with high fiscal risk - upon receipt, unloading and release of the goods transported.

Parliament adopted at second reading amendments to the Commercial Register of Non-Profit Legal Entities Act. According to the adopted texts, the Registry Agency shall immediately ensure, through the system of interconnection of the registers, the provision of free information on the registration, respectively the closure of a branch of a foreign person, as well as on the company, the legal form, the registration number, the registered office, the representation, the management and control bodies, the initiation or termination of liquidation proceedings, the bankruptcy and the deletion from the register and data on the announced acts of a company entered in the commercial register.

The National Assembly voted at second reading the amendments to the European Investigation Order Act. They provide that persons whose personal or property rights are directly and immediately affected by the execution of the European Investigation Order may appeal the substantive legal grounds for its issuance within 14 days from the date of becoming aware of the act of investigation or judicial investigative action before the relevant court of first instance, when the order was issued in the pre-trial proceedings, and before a court that issued it - in the court proceedings.

Parliament approved at second reading a bill ratifying the agreement on the participation of the Republic of Bulgaria in the OECD Programme for Ukraine with a voluntary financial contribution of EUR 60,000 (BGN 117,350). The Agreement was concluded by exchange of letters of 17 and 21 August 2023.

The OECD Programme for Ukraine was formally announced during the Organisation's annual ministerial meeting held on 7 and 8 June 2023 in Paris, with the aim of supporting the country's reform efforts on its path to EU and OECD membership, according to the report of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs.

The programme builds on and further develops the OECD Action Plan for Ukraine, which has been in place since 2015. The implementation period of the Programme is four years. The activities and measures set out in the Programme amount to a total of EUR 16.5 million for the entire four-year period. The funding is envisaged to be entirely by voluntary contributions from OECD member states, candidates for membership and partners willing to support it.

The National Assembly adopted at first reading two bills for amendments to the Railway Transport Act One bill was submitted by MP Dimitar Naydenov (We Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria), and the second - by the Council of Ministers.

The bill, submitted by MP Dimitar Naydenov, creates the possibility of storing an electronic carrier of the locomotive's travel document, the certificate for the braking mass of the train, the locomotive's on-board logbook and the train's timetable. The bill, submitted by the Council of Ministers, envisages changes related to a reasoned opinion of the EC on a procedure for violation of Bulgaria's obligations when transposing a European directive on the opening of the market for domestic passenger transport services by rail and the governance of the railway infrastructure.