Majority of Economy Commi-ssion overrules presidential decree on business fines

TIRANA, June.12- The Presidential decree that ruled the law on fines unconstitutional was overridden today by the economic commission of the Parliament, with 6 votes of the majority Democratic group in favor of the override and 3 votes from the opposition to uphold the decree. Vice Economy Minister, Florion Mima, was present at the vote and declared that the law does not infringe upon constitutional provisions. “On the contrary, it fulfills all recommendations of IMF and other international financial institutions that have urged action against uncollected business debt,” Mima told the commission.
The law obliges all businesses to pay 15 percent of their fines in cash, prior to any legal claims made of tax authority abuse. It also shortens the period of time available to businesses to submit their claims, from 60 to 30 days. The draft law was fiercely opposed by the opposition, the business associations throughout the country and was rejected by the president as unconstitutional. The most recent controversy about this law was experienced last month when Vice Ministers Mima and Gashi returned form a meeting in Brussels declaring that the EU supported this law, with the media later saying the EU had not supported this provision.