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The decision to approve those commitments is not vitiated by the procedural or substantive errors claimed by the applicant


Between 2011 and 2015, the European Commission took several measures in order to investigate the functioning of the gas markets in central and eastern Europe. In that context, it launched an investigation into Gazprom PJSC and Gazprom export LLC (together, ‘Gazprom’) in relation to the supply of gas in eight Member States, namely Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia (‘the countries concerned’). On 22 April 2015, the Commission sent a statement of objections 1 to Gazprom, claiming that it was abusing its dominant position on the national markets for the upstream wholesale supply of gas in the countries concerned for the purpose of preventing the free flow of gas there in breach of Article 102 TFEU, which prohibits such abuse.


In the statement of objections, the Commission, more specifically, considered that Gazprom’s strategy involved three sets of potentially anticompetitive practices:

− first, Gazprom had imposed territorial restrictions in its gas supply contracts with wholesalers and certain industrial clients in the countries concerned (‘the objections concerning territorial restrictions’);

− second, those territorial restrictions had made it possible for Gazprom to pursue an unfair pricing policy whereby it charged excessive prices in five of the countries concerned, namely Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (‘the objections concerning pricing practices’);

− third, Gazprom had made its supplies of gas in Bulgaria and Poland conditional on its obtaining certain commitments from wholesalers in relation to gas transport infrastructure. Those commitments, in particular, concerned acceptance by the applicant, the Polish wholesaler Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo S.A., of Gazprom having increased control over the management of investments regarding the Polish section of the Yamal pipeline, one of the main gas transit pipelines in Poland (‘the Yamal objections’). In order to resolve those competition issues, Gazprom submitted formal proposed commitments to the Commission and, after receiving observations from interested parties, submitted revised proposed commitments (‘the final commitments’).

The Protector of Citizens has requested the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development to remove the criteria of employee's property status and the number of children from main criteria for selecting the employees whose work is no longer needed in primary and secondary schools because these do not contribute to the quality of education of children, and to apply them only as complementary ones.

With a view to improving the protection of human freedoms and rights, the Protector of Citizens, reviewed on his own initiative the criteria for selecting employees whose work is no longer needed, specified by Article 34 of the Special Collective Agreement for employees in primary and secondary schools and students’ dormitories.

In the Opinion, the Protector of Citizens states that it is mandatory for the competent ministry to table to the Government of the Republic of Serbia the amendment to Special Collective Agreement for employees in primary and secondary schools and students’ dormitories in Article 34, paragraph 1, item 5 and item 7, so that these criteria are not the basis for scoring employees, but a supplement only.

The Protector of Citizens emphasizes that the quality and improvement of education should not depend equally on the criteria associated with the aspect of education and from the criteria whether the employee has children and what his/her property status is, which is the case now because, according to Article 34, in addition to the criteria – time spent in employment, education, competitions, pedagogical contribution to work and health condition, the criteria of property status and the number of children of preschool age, i.e. children in regular schooling up to 26 years of age, score equally.

In this situation, an employee who has three or more children (5 points) earns more points than an employee whose student won first place in a regional competition (4 points) or an employee who took part in developing textbook (4 points). Also, in this way, employees who exercise their freedom to make decisions on having children, prescribed by the Constitution, or cannot have children for medically indicated reasons, may be discriminated against in relation to other categories of employees, the Protector of Citizens believes.

The Protector of Citizens considers that the criterion - the number of children that an employee has, apart from its non-compliance with positive regulations, and criterion - property status, are not justified or conclusive for determining the employee whose work is no longer needed and that they must be linked primarily to the role that educational institutions play, especially in the case of identifying employees whose work is no longer needed.

The Protector of Citizens emphasizes that the criteria of property status and number of children should be applied only as a supplement, i.e. only when it is not possible to determine the employees whose work is no longer needed on the grounds of other criteria.

Constitutional Court: The norms that outline the procedure for determining the income subject to personal income tax for economic operators do not comply with the Constitution (Satversme)

The Constitutional Court (Satversmes tiesa) has ruled that the contested norms do not comply with Article 105 of the Satversme (article on property rights). The norms set out that a natural person - performer of economic activity who has chosen to pay personal income tax on income from economic activity - must pay the said tax even if the economic activity was performed at a loss. The Ombudsman stressed that such legislation runs contrary to the economic nature of personal income tax.
 

Ombudsman: There is an urgent need to improve the quality of investigations of sexual violence against children

The Ombudsman has found that there is an urgent need to improve the quality of investigations into sexual violence against children. In particular, the Ombudsman emphasises the unacceptably long duration of the investigations, the professional qualifications and specialisation of investigators, as well as problems regarding the examinations conducted before a criminal investigation has begun (including interviews with the children concerned).
 

The Ombudsman: Parents of students are not obligated to provide antigen tests at their own expense

After receiving parents’ enquiries about the provision of antigen tests in educational institutions, the Ombudsman has clarified that it is not the parents’ responsibility to provide the antigen tests needed for a student to be able to participate in the educational process in person. It is the responsibly of the state or the founder of the institution to ensure sufficient access to antigen tests in the educational institution.
 

Winner announcement of the “Annual Award for Supporting People with Disabilities”

For the seventh year in a row, the Ombudsman, in cooperation with the association “Apeirons” and the National Library of Latvia, organised the Annual Award for Supporting People with Disabilities. The award recognises people with disabilities and the organisations that have contributed to improving the rights for people with disabilities in Latvia. The award ceremony took place virtually on 3 December, the International Day of Persons with Disability.
 

The Ombudsman organised a discussion "People with disabilities and digital solutions. From user to creator”

On 3 December, the Ombudsman organised a virtual discussion "People with disabilities and digital solutions. From a user to a creator”. The event aimed to inspire people with disabilities to not only use digital solutions but also create them. During the discussion, the Ombudsman’s Office and NGO “Riga TechGirls” talked about the learning possibilities in the digital field and invited people with disabilities to develop new digital technologies based on universal design.
 

Ombudsman is elected to the GANHRI Working Group on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

On 3 December, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, elections were held at the Annual Meeting of the European Network of the Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI), and the Ombudsman's Office was elected to the GANHRI Working Group on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
 

The Ombudsman calls on the public media to ensure the accessibility of sports broadcasts to people with visual impairments

The Ombudsman calls on the public media to ensure the accessibility of sports broadcasts to people with visual impairments. The Ombudsman encourages sports commentators to familiarise themselves with the ways of presenting sports events in an accessible way.   

The Ombudsman’s Office took part in a discussion on the inclusion of children with additional needs in educational institutions

On 27 January, the Ombudsman’s Office co-hosted a public virtual discussion on the inclusion of children with additional needs in educational institutions. The discussion aimed to learn about parents’ experience regarding the cooperability of educational institutions. The Ombudsman’s Office was represented by Laila Grāvere.

A new emphasis on the role of the Ombudsman in the implementation of the National Preventive Mechanism

On 9 January, Latvia became the 91st country where the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment has entered into force. The Additional Protocol determines that the State must establish a national preventive mechanism or a system of regular visits to institutions where people are or might be deprived of liberty. The Protocol therefore reaffirms the 2017 government decision to entrust the Ombudsman with the functioning of the preventive mechanism.

A discussion dedicated to the International Day of Human Rights “Art — Freedom or the Right to Shock?”

On 10 December, in the honour of the International Day of Human Rights, the Ombudsman’s office organised a virtual discussion “Art – Freedom or the Right to Shock?”. Experts in art, law, psychology, and sociology discussed whether art has a place only in an art gallery. The Ombudsman emphasized that art is one of the forms of human expression protected by freedom of expression.

El Defensor del Pueblo, Ángel Gabilondo, se ha reunido este miércoles con Sophie Muller, representante en España del Alto Comisionado de las Naciones Unidas para los Refugiados.
 

En el encuentro, el primero que se produce con ACNUR tras su nombramiento, se abordaron los protocolos de protección en las costas y la necesidad de seguir el procedimiento internacional al respecto. Asimismo, se trató de las solicitudes de protección internacional presentadas, especialmente por las de los menores extranjeros. Se coincidió, también, en la necesidad de mantener y ampliar las vías de colaboración existentes.
 

A la reunión asistieron, además, Marta García, responsable del Departamento de Protección Internacional de ACNUR, y la Adjunta Segunda del Defensor del Pueblo, Patricia Bárcena.

„Das Problem der Altersdiskriminierung ist leider nicht neu. Immer wieder kommt es vor, dass die Volksanwaltschaft Beschwerden darüber erhält“, so Volksanwalt Werner Amon, der diese Beschwerden zum Anlass nahm, um in Verhandlungen mit der Versicherungs- und Bankenwirtschaft einen Weg zu finden um insbesondere gegen Altersdiskriminierung vorzugehen.

„Da wir keine gesetzliche Grundlage für das Bearbeiten von rein privatwirtschaftlichen Angelegenheiten haben, war es notwendig, einen ´modus vivendi´ zu finden, um den Bürgerinnen und Bürgern, nicht jedes Mal sagen zu müssen, wir sind nicht zuständig“, so der Volksanwalt. „Es ist eben altersdiskriminierend, wenn ältere Mitbürger keinen Kredit bekommen, oder keine Kreditkarte. Es ist auch zu hinterfragen, warum ältere Versicherungsnehmerinnen und Versicherungsnehmer in manchen Bereichen höhere Prämien zahlen als jüngere. Das kann versicherungsmathematisch richtig sein und ist doch eine Altersdiskriminierung“, so Amon weiter.

Der Volksanwaltschaft als nationaler Menschenrechtsorganisation geht es auch darum, ein Problembewusstsein zu schaffen und ein Umdenken in der Gesellschaft herbeizuführen. Die demographische Entwicklung in unserem Land zeigt, dass wir uns in einer „aging society“ befinden – in einer alternden Gesellschaft. Gerade auch deshalb ist es der Volksanwaltschaft ein Anliegen, sich um alle gesellschaftlichen Bereiche zu kümmern, in denen es zu Diskriminierungen und Menschenrechtsverletzungen kommt.

Nach einigen Verhandlungsrunden mit Vertretern der Versicherungswirtschaft ist es nun gelungen, eine Vereinbarung zu treffen, die in einem „Memorandum of Understanding“ mündete. Darin geht es um die die freiwillige Zusammenarbeit zur Behandlung von Beschwerden und Problemen in Versicherungsangelegenheiten. Von der Kooperation sind aber nicht nur Fälle der Altersdiskriminierung umfasst, sondern alle Beschwerden, die die Volksanwaltschaft in Versicherungsangelegenheiten erreichen. Diese werden dann an eine Schlichtungsstelle übergeben und vordringlich behandelt. Ein rascher Informationsaustausch, wenn die Betroffenen damit einverstanden sind, wird damit sichergestellt.

Volksanwalt Amon: „Die Kooperation mit der Versicherungswirtschaft ist für uns als Volksanwaltschaft ein ganz wichtiger Schritt, um einerseits altersdiskriminierende Tendenzen hintanzuhalten, und andererseits Bürgerinnen und Bürgern kurze Wege zu ermöglichen, wenn sie sich in einer Angelegenheit ungerecht behandelt fühlen.“

Fachverbandsobmann Christoph Berghammer: „Es freut mich als Vertreter der Maklerschaft, dass die Volksanwaltschaft eine Kooperation mit dem Rechtsservice und der Schlichtungsstelle des Fachverbands der Versicherungsmakler eingeht. Daran erkennt man, welch hohe Qualität und branchenweite Anerkennung unsere Schlichtungsstelle besitzt.“

„Etwa 7.500.000 Versicherungsfälle ereignen sich jährlich in Österreich. Naturgemäß gibt es bei einem kleinen Teil davon unterschiedliche Ansichten hinsichtlich der Leistungspflicht des Versicherers dem Grunde oder der Höhe nach. Die Zusammenarbeit zwischen der Volksanwaltschaft und der RSS hilft den Bürgerinnen und Bürgern und kann langwierige und teure Gerichtsverfahren vermeiden“, fasst Fachverbandsobmann-Stv. Gunther Riedlsperger die Situation zusammen.

„Diese Vereinbarung tritt mit sofortiger Wirkung in Kraft und bedeutet, dass sich Bürgerinnen und Bürger, so sie sich von einer Versicherung nicht richtig behandelt fühlen, jederzeit an die Volksanwaltschaft wenden können. – Eine Vereinbarung mit der Bankenwirtschaft wollen wir noch im heurigen Jahr zu einem Abschluss bringen“, schließt Amon.