PARLIAMENT VOTES HIGHER EXCISE TAXES ON CARS, BEER

ZAGREB, Nov 28 (Hina) - The Croatian parliament on Wednesday adopted laws whereby excise taxes on cars and beer will be increased as of January 1 next year and discussed rights during the period of unemployment. Croatian MPs were today also addressed by Slovene President Milan Kucan. The state has decided to increase excise taxes on cars in order to patch up a hole in the budget which will be the result of the cancellation of customs duties on cars imported from the European Union. The government has proposed an amendment to cushion the increase in excise taxes on cars, so that the price of cars worth up to 70,000 kuna, which account for most car imports, will drop by some DM1,000. The higher excise taxes will be felt most on luxury vehicles and vehicles from countries outside the EU, but this increase has been cushioned as well in comparison to the initial proposal. The parliament accepted a request by the Croatian Party of Rights/Croatian Christian Democratic Union (HSP/HKDU) bench that it entrust the government to draft, until the next session, a legal solution revoking customs duties on all personal vehicles and other motor vehicles, including those produced outside the EU. As of January 1, 2002, excise taxes on beer will rise from 120 to 200 kuna per hectolitre, which, according to some estimates, could result in a 50 lipa increase in the retail price of beer. Next year will also see a new 15% tax on insurance premiums for automobile liability. The parliament also adopted laws on the establishment of two new funds - for development and employment and for regional development. MPs also discussed a bill regulating rights during the period of unemployment and mediation in seeking employment. In an attempt to establish who is really unemployed, the government has suggested that all those caught in black labour should be erased from Employment Bureau registers. Unemployed persons who refuse to accept employment within a radius of 80 kilometres from their place of residence and are provided with transport should be treated the same, the government believes. The same measure would be applied to persons who refuse a job notwithstanding distance from their place of residence on condition they are provided with adequate accommodation. Unemployed persons who receive unemployment allowances should report to the Employment Bureau once a week, otherwise they would lose the right to receive it. Along with the Employment Bureau, other legal and physical entities would join in seeking employment for the jobless, with the consent of the Labour Minister. MPs requested in an extensive debate that an increase in unemployment allowances be considered. They also criticised the proposal whereby the unemployed would have to accept employment within a radius of 80 kilometres from their place of residence and suggested considering the recognition of transport costs. The parliament today also debated changes to the Law on Telecommunications, a bill on the ratification of a social insurance agreement with Yugoslavia and the final version of the national policy on the promotion of gender equality, which was supported by all party benches. (hina) rml