According to Andrias Bagdon, a member of the Liberal Movement faction of the Seimas, the amendments to the law aim to correct the ambiguity in this matter.
“A year ago, we submitted a draft law to the parliament, with which we wanted to very clearly regulate the sale of alcoholic beverages on September 1. For the second year on September 1. it is a weekend, when many educational institutions move the holiday of the beginning of the academic year to the next working day, students do not go to educational institutions. Nevertheless, businesses cannot sell alcoholic beverages on the weekend, but they can sell them on the day when students go to school. It seems to me that this is an ambiguity that should be abandoned”, A. Bagdonas, a member of the Seimas Committee on Economics, who submitted the project to the Seimas last year, told Eltai.
According to him, the parliament approved such a proposal at the submission stage, but the Health Affairs Committee cannot make a decision whether to approve or disapprove of it. A. Bagdonas intends to personally address Antanas Matulas, chairman of the Seimas Health Affairs Committee, and urge him to include this issue in the committee’s agenda.
“The Health Affairs Committee should make a decision and allow the Seimas to decide. The committee should not delay the consideration of amendments to the law, but take a positive or negative decision. Then the project would return to the parliament and the members of the Seimas would decide whether to accept, reject or improve it,” said A. Bagdon.
He hopes that the Seimas will include this issue in the agenda of the autumn session.
“Since there are only a few months left until the end of the term, I think that the Seimas should adopt those draft laws that create ambiguities for the people and businesses of Lithuania. I hope that such ambiguous laws will not remain in Lithuania in general”, said A. Bagdonas.
ELTA reminds that 49 members of the Seimas supported the amendments to the Alcohol Control Law submitted by A.Bagdon last year, 14 were against it, and 15 members of the Seimas abstained.
The currently valid law stipulates that the sale of alcoholic beverages is prohibited on September 1 of each year.
This prohibition does not apply to alcoholic beverages sold in public catering establishments, international trains, ships, aircraft carrying passengers on international routes, minibars installed in hotel rooms, as well as in duty-free shops and special shopping areas.
2024-09-02 13:42:30