House tweaks euro laws

THE PARLIAMENT yesterday approved amendments to the law regulating Cyprus’ entry into the Eurozone.

The new bill, submitted to Parliament by the Finance Ministry, aims at fine-tuning the four bills forced through in March to meet EU deadlines.

The government considers the amendments necessary to create a more effective and smooth legal framework for when the euro is introduced on January 1, 2008.

The bills include an increase in the powers of the Euro Observatory Body and an extension of dual pricing before and after the adoption date.

According to the new bill, products will be priced in both currencies from September 2007 until September 2008.

The new laws will also foresee stricter punishments for companies profiteering during the switchover, with the names of violators published in the local press and the official newspaper of the Republic.

The bill was approved with votes from the parties of AKEL, DISY, EDEK and EVROKO whilst there were just seven abstained votes from DIKO.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.