Government to Deal with Environmental Burdens and Procedure at WHA Meeting

Bratislava, 13 May (TASR) - At its regular session on Wednesday, the government will deal with new rules for the provision of state aid in the remediation of environmental burdens, particularly in cases where the remediation is carried out by the state at its own expense. Under the new rules, a mechanism should be established for determining the amount of excessive aid arising from an increase in the value of remediated land. The state should be obliged to claim such excessive aid from the recipient, according to an amendment to the law on certain measures in the field of environmental burden, which the government should decide on. The cabinet is also expected to approve the addition of a provision to the annex of the OECD convention. In line with the Finance Ministry's proposal, Slovakia will add a provision concerning the top-up tax to the annex to the OECD Convention on Mutual Assistance in Tax Matters. Ministers will also discuss guidelines for the delegation's procedure at the World Health Organisation (WHA) meeting, which will take place between 18-23 May in Geneva, Switzerland. According to the document, Slovakia should support the extension of negotiations on the annex to the Pandemic Agreement on the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing System (PABS). The government views the draft as insufficiently developed. ko