At the sitting held on 12 October, the members of the Committee on Labour, Social Issues, Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction reviewed the Bill on the Confirmation of the Social Insurance Agreement between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Greece.
The Bill was presented by Zoran Milosevic, acting assistant minister of labour, employment, veteran and social affairs, who said that the talk with the Greek side had been conducted since 2006 until the Agreement was finally signed in 2017. The Agreement covers pension and disability rights, is based on national legislation and European standards and will enable the people who had worked in Greece/Serbia to exercise their right to pension.
Following a debate the Committee members unanimously adopted the Bill on the Confirmation of the Social Insurance Agreement between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Greece.
The Committee went on to discuss the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs Activity Information for the period 1 April – 30 June 2017. The Information was presented by Ministry State Secretary Negovan Stankovic, who talked about the normative activities in the reporting period and preparation of new legislation to be forwarded into Assembly procedure by the end of October. Stankovic also presented the program and project activities, as well as administrative supervision activities. He said that, in the reporting period, the Ministry had issued 3,578 working permits to foreign nationals, processed 2,396 cases concerning care for the family and social protection, issued 26 social welfare providers’ licences and closed nine illegal nursing homes. Stankovic spoke about the inspection services in great detail, especially the labour inspectorate which had worked on suppressing illegal employment and reducing work-related injuries. 13,234 inspections were performed in the reporting period, resulting in more than 70 million RSD in fines for employers found to be in breach.
In the ensuing debate the Committee members mainly had questions about the migrant crisis, employment of persons with disabilities and amendment to the legislative framework in the field, schooling of migrant children and engagement of teachers for their education, transfers to local self-governments to improve the quality of living and social services in the community, and when the new law on strikes would find its way into assembly procedure, as well as the bills on financial support for families with children and on memorials.
Following the debate the Committee members adopted, by majority vote, the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs Activity Information for the period 1 April – 30 June 2017.
Finally, the Committee deliberated on the five received civic petitions and proposals. The Working Group had processed them and its rapporteurs informed the Committee members on their content and proposals for further handling.
The Committee members then unanimously adopted the Working Group’s Report.
The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairperson Dr Vesna Rakonjac, and attended by the following Committee members and deputy members: Josip Broz, Dragan Savkic, Tomislav Zigmanov, Radovan Jancic, Milanka Jevtovic Vukojicic, Prim. Dr Branimir Rancic, Marija Janjusevic, Prim. Dr Vlado Babic, Dr Predrag Jelenkovic, Vesna Nikolic Vukajlovic, Aleksandra Majkic, Milena Corilic and Ljupka Mihajlovska.
