Puci: Scrapping UOO Transformation Law via Amendment Most Time-efficient Option

Bratislava, 17 March (TASR) - Addressing the repeal of the law intended to transform the Whistleblowers Protection Office (UOO) into a new agency via an amendment to the Criminal Code was the simplest option in terms of timing, head of the coalition Voice-SD parliamentary caucus Robert Puci told reporters in Parliament on Tuesday. Puci pointed out that the amendment to the Criminal Code is at its second reading in Parliament, and the law concerning the protection of whistleblowers could thus be scrapped during the current session. At the same time, however, Puci hopes this will be one of the last such amendments in this legislative term. "We couldn't have done it any other way. We need to repeal it as soon as possible because we're under pressure from the European Union [EU], which is pushing us to repeal this originally approved bill. This is because they won't only refuse to reimburse us but will also demand that we return all payments made so far from the recovery plan," he stated, adding that he believes that the EU took this step due to pressure from the opposition. "Our colleagues in the opposition went to Brussels so often that they eventually banned us from doing this, or rather told us they would cancel our payments from the recovery plan, so we've withdrawn it for now," he said. Parliamentary Vice-chairman Tibor Gaspar (Smer-SD) also claims that the coalition decided to scrap the law due to the actions of the European Commission (EC). "We're being pragmatic. If this is going to be a problem for the EC in implementing the recovery plan, let's take it off the table," he stated, adding that no new legislation regarding changes to whistleblowers protection is currently being prepared. am/df