Parliamentary committee discusses presidential referrals on banking and consumer protection laws

The House Parliamentary Committee on Energy, Commerce, Industry, and Tourism met on Monday to discuss two presidential referrals regarding legislative amendments. The first referral concerns a law granting micro-enterprises, which account for 95% of Cyprus's businesses, access to basic payment accounts. Legal services representatives argued this extension is problematic, citing conflicts with the Constitution, European law, and the separation of powers. Regarding the second referral, the Consumer Protection Service criticized amendments to the Consumer Protection Law for lacking clarity on role definitions and for including clauses inconsistent with current legal standards. The Director of the Consumer Protection Service, Konstantinos Karagiorgis, also stated that mandatory bank fee regulations interfere with the freedom of contract. Despite these concerns, the Parliament later rejected the president's referral regarding the micro-enterprises legislation. Both pieces of legislation were subsequently referred to the plenary session for further action.