On Thursday, June 9, the Saeima in the second and final reading adopted the draft law on ratification of the agreement on accommodation of the Office of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Regulators (BEREC) in Riga.

The BEREC Office in Riga is already being set up. It is planned that this EU agency in Riga will have a staff of approximately 30 employees, and this number is expected to grow in the future. Furthermore, its meetings in Riga will be regularly attended by experts from all the EU member states and representatives of the European Commission. This will generate income for companies working in the transportation, tourism and service sectors. The first BEREC plenary session in Riga was held in February 2011.

In accordance with the concluded agreement on accommodation of the BEREC Office in Riga, Latvia has agreed to cover the office rental costs in Riga for the first two years of Office’s operation, to issue the diplomatic registration plates for the agency’s official cars, as well as to offer advantageous conditions in other areas.

The aim of the BEREC is to promote cooperation between the EU member states and the European Commission and thus to ensure harmonised application of the EU regulations in the area of electronic communications. Before the decision was made to locate the BEREC Office in Riga, Latvia was among those few EU member states that were not accommodating any of the EU agencies.

Saeima Press Service