The Act on Healthcare Emergency Measures to Contain the Spread of the Covid-19 Communicable Disease and Mitigate its Consequences lays down measures to contain the spread and mitigate the effects of the communicable disease COVID-19 in the healthcare, social care, labour and insurance domains. The Government proposes that the National Assembly consider the Act under the emergency procedure, as the deteriorated situation in the healthcare sector, which is partly due to the COVID-19 communicable disease and partly due to the malfunctioning of certain subsystems, requires immediate action and the provision of the basic conditions for the effective functioning of the public healthcare system along with the measures to contain the spread and mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 communicable disease in the healthcare sector. The Act also provides state budget funds for vaccination against the COVID-19 and influenza diseases, funds for the implementation of prolonged hospital treatment, funds for oxygen treatment during prolonged hospital treatment, funds for the performance of public healthcare tasks and for self-testing with HAG tests, additional specialisations in clinical psychology, an allowance for taking the specialisation in family medicine, etc.

The purpose of the Decree on criteria for determining and assessing the number of households in energy poverty is to improve the planning and implementation of energy and social policies targeting energy poverty. As energy prices have risen, energy poverty is increasingly perceived as a challenge that must be addressed immediately. In the long term, this will ensure a just transition of society’s most vulnerable members towards a low-carbon society and a sustainable economy. The Decree sets out more detailed criteria for determining and assessing the number of households in energy poverty. These include material deprivation, a high share of energy expenditure relative to disposable income or above-average energy expenditure, low energy efficiency of household premises and inadequate housing conditions.

The Government took note of the proposal for an Agreement on measures relating to salaries and other labour costs in the public sector for 2022 and 2023, the proposed annex to the collective agreement for the public sector, the proposed annex to the collective agreement for non-commercial activities, and the proposed annexes to the collective agreements for activities and professions, and authorised the competent ministers to sign the Agreement and the annexes to the aforementioned collective agreements. Both parties have undertaken that, following the conclusion of these negotiations, they will enter conciliation talks concerning systemic changes to the public sector salary system with a view to proposing, by 30 June 2023 at the latest, amendments to the existing law or a new law on the public sector salary system with a signed statement on the level of harmonising the text of the articles of the law, whereby the Government and trade union will strive for the highest possible level of the law’s harmonisation. The parties have also undertaken to negotiate, in parallel with the conciliation talks regarding systemic changes to the salary system, the elimination of salary disparities arising in the period following the conclusion of the Agreement on salaries and other labour costs in the public sector (UL RS No 80/18), with a view to reaching an agreement on the elimination of salary disparities in basic salaries, taking into account the lower third of the salary scale, by 30 June 2023 at the latest. As also stipulated in the Agreement, negotiations and conciliations shall begin no later than one month after the signature of this Agreement. The financial impact of the Arrangement is estimated at EUR 611 million.