Left out of today's agenda of the Plenary of the Parliament was the bill to impose a cap on the sale price of bottled water at specific points of sale, such as airports, ports, stadiums, remote beaches, theaters, cinemas, archaeological sites and museums.

This is despite government pressure to pass the legislation before Parliament closes for the summer recess. The government side sent three letters to Parliament, asking for the immediate passage of the bill, so that consumers can benefit from the measure during the summer months. However, members of the parliamentary Trade Committee decided not to promote the bill in today's plenary session of the Parliament, due to the clarifications they believe the Government should give.

Also, another reason that led to the bill being shelved is the fact that there has not yet been an article-by-article discussion of the bill. Members of the Committee, speaking to "F", expressed their concern because technocrats of the Ministry of Energy, when asked to comment on whether the cap can be applied immediately, told them that even if the bill was voted on today, the ministerial decree could not be issued soon. In fact, they expressed their concern because the competent ministry did not proceed with the required study on the impact that this measure will have. MPs say it is inconceivable that a study should not be carried out but that the ministry should simply ask for the oral positions of companies at the airport. In addition, they argue that it is not right not to apply the same values to 500 ml and 750 ml package water at the points where the cap will be imposed. As MPs argue, this would not serve the purpose of the bill and would have the opposite effect.

Government annoyed

On the other hand, the government side is particularly annoyed about the stance taken by some MPs, but also the disdain and spikes towards the Minister of Energy and technocrats of the Consumer Protection Service. At the same time, they did not hide their dissatisfaction with the verbal attack that the representatives of the ministry and the minister received during the last meeting of the parliamentary Trade Committee last Tuesday, behaviour they describe as offensive.

In this session there was a heated confrontation between the chairman of the committee and DISY MP Kyriakos Hatzigiannis and the Minister of Energy George Papanastasiou. Specifically, the DISY MP, addressing the minister, argued that the work done by the Government on the bill is neither serious nor complete.

The Energy Minister responded immediately, stressing that MPs must protect consumers in places where there is no competition. He also stressed that the bill "if it's not perfect, help us perfect it, instead of delaying it until next summer." This provoked the reaction of Mr. Hatzigiannis, who described the energy minister as unacceptable. In fact, the alarmist MP spoke of an organized effort by the Government to immediately promote the bill, without exercising the necessary parliamentary control and putting in place safeguards for consumer protection. A position which provoked the reaction of the minister responsible.

In case the Government maintains its position to promote the bill now, it is not excluded that the issue will be discussed at the meeting of the leaders, but it is very remote that the bill will be put to a vote in today's plenary of the Parliament.