site.btaDemocratic Bulgaria Says Price Measures Are a Start, but Regulators Must Act

The government’s anti-inflation measures are insufficient but a start to a debate, MP Martin Dimitrov of Democratic Bulgaria (DB) said at a news briefing on Monday.

The proposals hinge on the work of the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) and the Commission for Consumer Protection (CCP), Dimitrov said. They should be given two months to become fully operational or be replaced, as the measures cannot be implemented without strong, effective regulators.

He said the measures contained a gap in the calculation of eco-taxes for cars and major appliances.

“We do not see enough proposals to curb speculation in fuel prices. The real fight against food prices goes through tackling fuel speculation,” DB MP Yordan Ivanov said.

“We will support at first reading Progressive Bulgaria’s (PB) bill amending the Judicial System Act on Tuesday in the Temporary Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs, as a gesture of constructive parliamentary dialogue,” DB Floor Leader Nadejda Iordanova said. She said DB saw no guarantees of political neutrality in Progressive Bulgaria (PB)’s proposed new rules for appointing a new Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).

The idea that challenges to career and disciplinary proceedings should be heard by mixed panels, so that the Supreme Administrative Court does not have a monopoly, has also not been taken up, MP Atanas Slavov of DB added.

Earlier Monday, PB said it had submitted two bills to the National Assembly aimed at eliminating unfair commercial practices. One amends the Protection of Competition Act and the other the Consumer Protection Act. One bill also provides for extending the Euro Adoption Act by one year.