The bill for the protection of volunteerism was passed

The draft law of the Ministry of Interior for the protection of volunteerism and the framework of the Civil Society Organizations were voted on the principle and the articles. ND and the Movement for Change supported the bill. SYRIZA, the KKE, the Hellenic Solution and MERA25 voted against. At the beginning of tomorrow’s meeting, the roll call vote requested by SYRIZA will be held on the amendment of the Ministry of Citizen Protection that provoked the reaction of the opposition parties.

It is the very serious civil society organizations that agree that there is a need for control, transparency and accountability, said the Minister of Interior, Makis Voridis, shortly before the end of the debate in the Plenary on the bill for the protection of volunteerism and the framework for its Organizations. Civil Society. The minister underlined that the bill defines the obligations of civil society organizations in order to receive state funding, and these are obligations of transparency. “Unless an institutional framework is established that enhances integrity, transparency and builds a relationship of trust, we will not support or strengthen volunteering,” he said.

“SYRIZA praises the organizations and says that we must support them. Have you been concerned about the control and criticism of these organizations and the fact that there are sources of opacity in some of them? Does this deter anyone who wants to volunteer?” , said Mr. Voridis who pointed out that the lack of minimum conditions and the lack of control and accountability framework that have so far led Greece to be last in the ranking for the voluntary offer does not work in the direction of transparency and enhancement of participation. “Do you admit that there have been cases of corruption in such organizations? Do you consider by definition that such organizations are holy? Because someone writes ‘NGO’, is he sanctified at the same time? Or is he obliged to be accountable? Or is he obliged to be transparent? “privately, he has the obligation to be accountable for all this? Or should he explain to us the actions he is taking? What is your opinion on this?”, said Makis Voridis, addressing the opposition parties that spoke of suffocating control. “Are you telling us that the bill is very controlling? Is the bill controlling because we make them register in two registers? How do we check if we do not have them in even one register? If we do not know who they are? If we do not know their administration? “If we do not know their statutes? If we do not have a financial situation for them? What do you mean the bill is controlling?”, Said the Minister of Interior.

But also regarding the criticisms that the bill is bureaucratic for the Civil Society Organizations, Mr. Voridis insisted that the bill provides for two registers, and provides three options:

– for those organizations which do not want any public funding and do not enter any register,

– for those who are registered in the basic register and for the registration they are required to present a statute, the administrative bodies, a balance sheet, a financial statement and a fee of 20 euros. “Is this too much and too heavy and bureaucratic? For an organization that will receive funding of up to 50,000 euros?”, Said Mr. Voridis.

– for those organizations that will receive more than 50,000 euros and will have tax exemptions. “To say that we want to see a report of statutory auditors, that we want their administrations not to have committed criminal offenses, that we want to see an action plan, what they did and an account of their action plan, that is it heavy? “, said the Minister of Interior.

Referring to the amendment of the Ministry of Civil Protection that occupied a large part of the debate in today’s session of Parliament, and the issue of “moral and legal order” raised by the official opposition to pay for alternative sentencing service, the Minister of Interior commented that an arrangement for the subsequent recognition of a debt under a contract. “I do not know the Mr. Commander of EYP. I do not know his company. I do not know the contract. I hear from SYRIZA how the contract developed. But as a legal colleague, I must say that if there was a contract “with which services were provided, obviously a fee is due”, said Makis Voridis and added that if the company goes to court for the payment of the fee, and if a service has been provided, it will be paid. “So the scandal is that instead of being paid after a court decision, it is finally recognized by parliament that it has to be paid. That is something that the court would say after a court dispute,” the interior minister said, adding: “If you want to check why there was no bidding process, that yes, in the sense that one has to see why the service did not go through this process.But recognition, once the service has been provided, does not matter. That is, to have a debtor who says he does not pay because he says there is a legal defect and go to court to get your money, he is a bad faith debtor.

“We have to look at the real content,” he said, adding: “We have to see if a service has been provided. “So, I think there is a lot of fuss about an issue that does not seem to make a difference financially. In any case, you will discuss these with the competent minister.”

At the same time, the Minister of Interior hastened to observe that today the government is receiving heavy fire from the official opposition for two amendments that had been submitted on time to the bill, although under SYRIZA 15 overdue amendments to a bill were submitted late.

Makis Voridis even pointed out that the legislative initiatives and reforms promoted by the government, brought results after Greece managed to regain the five points in the corruption ranking index, and are the units that were lost under the SYRIZA government. “It’s fun for you to talk about corruption and the inaction of this government, when in your day we fell into the index of corruption and now we are regaining the points we lost, to go one place higher than where we were,” he said. the Minister of Interior, addressing the headquarters of SYRIZA. Organizations such as the OECD recognize the government’s enormous effort, especially in the field of public administration, said Mr. Voridis and asked for this to concern SYRIZA, “so that it is not cut off from reality”.

Source: AMPE