The plenary session of the Parliament this Wednesday and Thursday is scheduled to give the green light to the bill for the eradication of asbestos and the bill that recognizes the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (IEC) as the National Academy, an initiative promoted by PSC-Units, Junts, ERC, Comuns, and CUP.
In addition to the control session for the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, and the consellers, the decree-law on urgent measures in urban planning and contracting for rural municipalities will be addressed; the possible processing by a single reading of a bill from the PP to create a tax deduction for celiacs, and a proposal from Junts, ERC, Comuns, and CUP to submit to Congress a bill that strengthens aid for those suffering from ALS.
Law to eliminate asbestos
The final debate of the bill for the eradication of asbestos, which reaches the plenary session with amendments from Junts, PP, Vox, and Comuns, aims to establish a legal framework for the action of administrations in Catalonia against the effects of asbestos on the health of people, animals, and the environment, as well as to facilitate its detection, location, management, and removal.
The legal text establishes the obligation for administrations to identify, manage, and remove asbestos from the assets they own, and determines that companies and professionals dedicated to these tasks must ensure the protection of personnel health, among other aspects.
To make the obligations set by the law effective, the creation of different instruments to promote the application of measures is foreseen, and a sanctioning regime is established with fines of up to 100,000 euros in cases of very serious infractions.
The IEC as "national academy"
The bill recognizing the IEC as a "national academy," processed by the express single reading procedure, reaches the plenary session with a total amendment from Vox and 7 partial amendments from the PP, which mainly propose that it be defined as a Catalan academy and not "national."
As the explanatory statement underlines, the proposal seeks to provide Catalonia with "a fully recognized national academic institution" and maintains its legal status as a public law corporation with a private basis, as well as its organizational autonomy and the regime provided for in its statutes.
Founded in 1907, the IEC has been responsible since its inception for setting the standards for the Catalan language and promoting the study of various fields of knowledge.
Urgent measures for the rural world
The Minister of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition, Sílvia Paneque, will defend the decree-law of urgent measures in the urban planning and contracting fields linked to rural municipalities, which incorporates actions to address the "critical situation" they suffer, marked by territorial imbalance and population loss.
Among the novelties, a "rural POUM" is created to simplify and adapt the municipal urban planning plan to the reality of these municipalities; an inventory of constructions on non-developable land is foreseen, and "traditional rural neighborhoods" are regulated, population centers on non-developable land over 100 years old with buildings intended for habitual residence, currently in a situation of constant legal uncertainty.
The decree also incorporates measures to simplify public procurement in rural municipalities and accelerate procedures for installing renewable energy generation equipment on municipal roofs and land.
Tax deduction for celiacs and improvements for people with ALS
The plenary session will also debate the processing by a single reading of the PP's bill to create a tax deduction for families with diagnosed celiac disease, with the aim of compensating for the "extra cost" associated with gluten-free foods and the exclusive treatment necessary to address the pathology.
The initiative incorporates a new article into the legislative decree of the sixth book of the Tax Code of Catalonia, which provides for a deduction of 200 euros in the regional gross income tax (IRPF) for each celiac member of the family unit, applicable to taxpayers with incomes of up to 35,000 euros in individual taxation and up to 45,000 euros in joint taxation.
The agenda also includes the vote on the processing by a single reading of the proposal to present to the Congress of Deputies a bill to modify the regulations to improve the quality of life of people with ALS, in order to reinforce the right to continuous, comprehensive and specialized healthcare in the face of "dysfunctions" detected in its implementation.
The text proposes that essential benefits to ensure vital functions, such as mechanical ventilation or assisted feeding, are not considered social services, so that they are compatible with other dependency system benefits and are, as a general rule, outside of co-payment schemes.
Likewise, it incorporates changes to guarantee that the procedures for reviewing the degree of disability do not paralyze or delay effective access to the rights, benefits, and services recognized by law. The proposal, furthermore, modifies the royal decree to establish that the minimum amount of economic benefits from the dependency system for patients with grade III+ be 3,200 euros.
Other initiatives from the plenary
In the same session, six motions will be put to a vote, 9 interpellations from parliamentary groups will be debated, and an institutional declaration will be read for the 50th anniversary of the Primeres Jornades Catalanes de la Dona and in recognition of the feminist movement, promoted by PSC-Units, Junts, ERC, Comuns, and the CUP.