The Assembly of Kosovo has adopted in the second reading the Draft Law on Temporary Measures for Essential Products in Special Cases of Market Destabilization. The law was approved with 63 votes in favor, none against, and no abstentions, while 25 amendments from the functional committee were voted on individually. Opposition parties did not support the draft law, stating that it “leaves room for arbitrariness” and is “imposed and influenced by other private and party interests,” as reported by KosovaPress.
Minister of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade, Mimoza Kusari-Lila, defended the draft law, saying it aims to protect vulnerable categories in relation to price fluctuations.
“This draft law is foreseen to be activated only in situations of market destabilization and only for 14 products that are specified in this draft law, basic basket products whose aim is to protect the most vulnerable categories in relation to price changes. It is not a law that enters the general list of products in markets and sets prices. … The independence of the board, consequently the competencies of the state, throughout the discussion even today have been contradictory in terms of whether you want the board to be dependent or independent, whether it is a competence of the government or not. … Why in this situation do you say you have the majority, you choose the board yourselves? Of course, like with all other laws, this stems from another democratic process, which are elections. We are talking about the form of discussion and treatment of a topic that least deserves to be politicized… None of the arguments or concerns that are being politicized have to do with the drafting of this law,” she said.
She was later responded to by Democratic League of Kosovo MP Hykmete Bajrami, who said the draft law is a “political farce.”
Earlier, Vetëvendosje Movement MP Rozeta Hajdari presented the recommendation of the Committee on Economy, calling for the law to be approved.
“This draft law deals only with price regulation in cases of market destabilization, and never in situations that are presented as extraordinary or emergency situations, but only when we have market destabilization. An independent, temporary board has been created, which will work under the Compensation Law, and furthermore this draft law has been closely coordinated with authorities that can make proposals for price regulation, such as the Consumer Protection Association, the Competition Authority, and other institutions. So, it is an independent board created according to court recommendations, and moreover it is a law that protects the citizen, protects the consumer, and also stabilizes the market, especially in cases where we have destabilization due to market manipulation,” she said.
Democratic Party of Kosovo MP Arben Mustafa said that PDK MPs will not participate in the vote on the Draft Law on Temporary Measures for Essential Products in Special Cases of Market Destabilization. According to him, the draft law leaves room for arbitrariness.
“We are not against a law that prevents or prohibits abuse in the market; on the contrary, we have said that responsible institutions should fight every form of abuse. However, the way this law is formulated leaves many ambiguities and leaves a lot of room for arbitrariness. It is unclear in which cases the market will be intervened to limit profit margins or set maximum prices… We cannot leave it to a body that arbitrarily decides what constitutes unreasonable pricing or unjustified price increases, but it must be clearly defined with a methodology included in the draft law on how the reasonableness of prices will be determined. This law foresees a board that cannot be an independent board since it is foreseen to be selected by the government and only approved in the Assembly. A non-independent board is being left to intervene in the free market and interfere with its functioning,” he said.
The LDK MPs also did not vote in favor of the law. MP Janina Ymeri said that the price cap law is “imposed and influenced by party and personal interests.”
The head of the AAK parliamentary group, Besnik Tahiri, also said they do not support this price cap draft law.
