The debate in the Parliamentary Committee on Finance begins today on the introduction of teleworking in the public sector, while the bill on foreign direct investments is in the final stage, with article by article.
According to the government bill, mixed teleworking is promoted, i.e. the possibility of teleworking certain days of the year, in combination with working at the employee's place of work.
The promoted bill includes the conditions and general terms of application of teleworking. As noted in the announcement of the Council of Ministers, after the approval of the bill, a basic prerequisite for the possibility of teleworking is that the duties of employees or part of them can be performed remotely, based on their nature and the technological means required for their execution, as judged by the relevant Head of Department.
Details on the process of implementing teleworking have been included in a Manual with guidelines prepared by the Department of Public Administration and Personnel, in collaboration with the Department of IT Services and other services involved to guide services, employees and employees on the implementation of teleworking, which will be released after the Bill is passed into law by the House of Representatives.
Proposals for secondments
Two proposals for amending legislation on the secondment of civil servants and employees of indefinite duration to the public service and to public law organizations will also be discussed today.
The two proposals come from MPs Efthymios Diplaros, Savia Orfanidou and Marios Mavridis, on behalf of the parliamentary group of the Democratic Rally.
In the final stretch, foreign investments
Moreover, the revised bill for the creation of a National Foreign Direct Investment Control Mechanism is also entering the final stretch for a vote, as today also begins its discussion in the Finance Committee, following the broader consensus of the stakeholders reached last Monday.
The bill harmonizes Cyprus with European practices, providing for stricter controls on investments of strategic importance, while ensuring that the country remains a competitive destination for reliable investments.
As a representative of the Ministry of Finance had explained last Monday, the most important amendments made concern the definition of a company of strategic importance, which includes companies established by law of another country and operating in Cyprus, the provision for the exclusion of investors from EU, EEA and Swiss countries, the obligation to inform the foreign investor in a timely manner, In order to avoid delays and the introduction of an investment notification threshold, which will be set at €2,000,000.
Also, an exception is provided for ships, due to the special status of the shipping industry in Cyprus and in order not to affect its competitiveness, with the exception of floating natural gas plants. It also provides for the procedure of consultation with a competent advisory committee and the possibility of ex officio control, even without notification of the investment.
The goal, as mentioned by the Ministry of Finance, is to establish a transparent, predictable and clear mechanism, which, at the same time, will not harm the competitiveness of Cyprus in relation to other countries.
Stakeholders such as the CCCI, the OEB, the Cyprus Bar Association, the Association of Banks, ICPAC, CIFA, the Cyprus Chamber of Shipping agreed with the promoted legislation.
