House of Representatives Adopts Five Government Bills on Credit, Education and Training, Health, and Social Protection
The House of Representatives adopted on Monday, February 5, 2024, five Government bills related to credit, education and training, health, and social protection. The adoption took place during a legislative plenary sitting chaired by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Rachid Talbi El Alami, and attended by the Minister of Economy and Finance, Nadia Fettah Alaoui; the Minister of Health and Social Protection, Khalid Aït Taleb; and the Minister Delegate to the Head of Government in charge of Relations with the Parliament and Government Spokesperson, Mustapha Baïtas.
During the sitting, the Representatives adopted by a majority of votes Government Bill 01.22 on Credit Information Offices in a second reading. The Bill aims to limit the diagnosed shortcomings, meet the newly offered opportunities, enhance the role of credit information offices, and ameliorate access to financing as part of the national strategy for financial inclusion.
The Bill will set a more robust framework for managing the activities of credit reports and enable credit institutions to better assess loan risks for the potential loaners, particularly the excluded vulnerable categories and those that suffer a shortage in accessing financial services.
During the same sitting, the Representatives adopted by a majority of votes Government Bill 04.24, amending Law 01.21 stipulating the subjection of the personnel of the Regional Education and Training Academies to the civil pension scheme created by Law 011.71. The Bill includes a sole article that stipulates the amendment of Law 01.21 to adapt its title and provisions with the ones of Law 07.00 on the creation of the Regional Education and Training Academies, particularly Article 11, which will be annulled and replaced by virtue of Government Bill 03.24 under examination, in order to grant the personnel of said Academies the title of “civil servants” instead of “regular personnel.”
Besides, the Representatives adopted by a majority of votes Government Bill 46.23 amending and supplementing Law 98.15 on the compulsory health insurance scheme for independent workers and professionals, and self-employed persons exercising a liberal activity. The Bill intends to achieve adequacy with the provisions of Law 65.00 on compulsory health insurance, amended and supplemented by Law 27.22, mainly by annulling the provisions of Article 3.
The Bill's adoption will also prioritize the criteria of categorizing individuals according to the legislative and organic texts in force over the requirements of the practiced activities and professions. The Bill also stipulates the determination of the due subscription fee of the covered individual based on the highest supplementary income or the highest subscription fee if the concerned individual belongs to more than one category, subcategory, or a set of categories, depending on the professions they exercise.
The Representatives also adopted by a majority of votes Government Bill 47.23 amending and supplementing Law 99.15 on the creation of a pension scheme for independent workers and professionals, and self-employed persons exercising a liberal activity, which falls under the scope of implementing the high Royal directives calling for accelerating the implementation of all the components of the social protection system, as set in Framework Law 09.21 on Social Protection.
The Bill aims to prioritize the criteria of categorizing individuals according to the provisions of the legislative and organic texts in force over the criteria of the exercised activities and professions.
Moreover, in a second reading, the Representatives adopted by unanimity Government Bill 98.18 on the National Order of Pharmacists. The Bill falls under the context of regulating and organizing this category that provides noble services for Moroccan citizens, particularly as the law regulating this body has become obsolete given its adoption in 1976, and no longer goes in line with the profession of pharmacy and the major transformation the sector has been going through because of the significant increase in the number of professionals of pharmacy in the private and public sectors.
The adoption of the Bill will grant the National Order of Pharmacists the status of the sole representative and interlocutor before the public authorities and the party in charge of defending the financial, moral, and logistical interests of pharmacists. The National Order of Pharmacists will also be tasked with granting licenses to exercise the profession in the private sector, examining the requests to establish pharmacies and bioanalysis laboratories, and addressing all the matters related to pharmaceutical activities in general.