A “battle” of arguments is taking place in the Parliament’s Production and Trade committee, against the background of the Ministry of Development’s bill for the establishment of the new Independent Market Control Authority. The government presents the reform as the only solution to crack down on profiteering, while the opposition and institutional bodies speak of communication gimmicks and the dangerous abolition of the Consumer Ombudsman.
The Minister of Development, Takis Theodorikakosdefended the regulations, stressing that the goal is to end the fragmentation of control mechanisms. According to the minister, all services are unified under DIMEA, creating a strong pole of authority. Characteristic was his reference to the position of the Authority’s new commander, who will have a five-year term and powers corresponding to those of commander of AADEanswerable exclusively to the legislature.
From the side of the New Democracy, the rapporteur Athanasios Zebilis argued that the multi-division that has been in place until now (Consumer Advocate, General Secretary of Commerce, DIMEA) was leading to bureaucracy and overlapping, leaving the citizen unprotected.
“Fire” from the opposition to be precise
The opposition as a whole accused the government of trying to cover up its failure on the punctuality front with administrative reshuffles.
The PASOKthrough Giorgos Nikitiadis, spoke of “institutional regression”, pointing out the paradox of combining control mechanisms with the mediation body.
THE SYRIZA and Haris Mamoulakis described the bill as a “communicational bombshell”, stressing that the government is unable or unwilling to attack the cartels.
The KKE denounced the government’s attempt to shift responsibility for accuracy to an independent authority, recalling the failure of previous measures.
OR New Left connected precision with central political choices, while the Greek solutionh Win and the Freedom Sailing they focused on the weakening of consumer rights and the ineffectiveness of the measures.
The OKE “bomb”.
A special sensation was caused by the report of the Economic and Social Committee (ESC). The institutional body expresses its strong concern about its abolition Consumer Advocateof an institution that had won the trust of the citizens.
The Committee notes that the inclusion of the Ombudsman in an administrative structure lacks expediency and constitutes a setback in terms of guarantees of independence. He even concludes that the merger serves more political expediencies despite the substantial improvement of the control framework.