07/02/2024 – 21:03
A “jabuti” inserted in the proposed constitutional amendment (PEC) that grants financial autonomy to the Central Bank shields notary offices from changes planned by the institution with the creation of a digital currency. The measure aims to limit, for example, the reach of Drex, the “digital real”, and other technological operations aimed at reducing bureaucracy.
Announced by the Central Bank, Drex is the Brazilian digital currency, a digital version of the real, which is still in the testing phase. The tool promises to simplify operations such as buying and selling cars and real estate, which can be done without the need for mediation by a notary. The jabuti – an element foreign to the original content of the text – proposes to preserve the activities of these establishments.
The Brazilian Association of Notaries and Registrars (Anoreg), which represents 13,000 notary offices in all states, was contacted by the press, but did not respond. When contacted, the Central Bank also did not respond.
The change was included in the BC PEC during the processing in the Senate’s Constitution and Justice Committee – the proposal is expected to be officially presented this Wednesday, the 3rd, followed by a collective request for review by the senators.
The PEC establishes the bank’s technical, operational, administrative, budgetary and financial autonomy in the Constitution. The agency would cease to be an autarchy subordinate to the federal government and would become a special institution, organized as a public company that carries out state activities. In practice, the BC would start to manage its own budget. The text imposes a spending limit for the agency and guarantees job security for employees. The government is taking action against the approval of the text.
After being postponed three weeks ago, the vote is expected to take place later, with no date yet set. To be approved, the PEC needs to obtain favorable votes from 14 members of the CCJ and three-fifths of senators and deputies, in two rounds of voting.
The escalation of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s offensive against the Central Bank and Roberto Campos Neto’s reactions, amid the dollar’s surge, have further increased pressure on the PEC, according to the rapporteur, Plínio Valério (PSDB-AM). “It ends up drawing a lot of attention (to the proposal),” he says.
Two weeks ago, the PT member’s speeches were used by government officials to increase criticism of the institution’s autonomy during a public hearing on the proposal in the Senate committee.
Members of Congress, especially from the opposition, have been advocating for the PEC to move forward amid increasing criticism from Lula regarding interest rates and the institution’s president, Roberto Campos Neto. The argument is that operational autonomy, already in force, should be completed with financial independence in order to shield the Central Bank from pressure from the Executive. The proposal, however, faces resistance from the government and its allies.
The jabuti was welcomed by Plínio Valério in the second version of his report with the aim of gaining votes in favor of the PEC. It appears in two identical proposals presented by senators Weverton Rocha (PDT-MA) and Carlos Portinho (PL-RJ). “It is a subject that deserves even greater discussion,” the rapporteur stated to State. Weverton and Portinho did not comment.
The amendment, described in the same words in both proposals, proposes inserting a provision into the Constitution that ensures that the autonomy granted to the Central Bank does not affect the powers of notary offices. The text states that “the autonomy granted to the Central Bank under this Constitutional Amendment does not cover, restrict, alter or accumulate the services that are the responsibility of notaries and registrars as assigned by law.”
In the justification, also identical in the amendments of the two senators, both claim that “the inclusion of notary services under the jurisdiction of the Central Bank could represent a risk of excessive concentration of power, harming the diversity and competitiveness of the sector”.
Author of the PEC, Senator Vanderlan Cardoso (PSD-GO) criticizes the inclusion of the section that benefits notary offices. “This amendment changes the purpose of the project. It is not a turtle, it is an elephant,” he stated.
Rapporteur includes parity in remuneration between active and retired BC employees
In a new opinion, the PEC rapporteur included provisions establishing parity in pay for retirees and pensioners with equivalent careers in the federal public service.
The change ensures that these groups have the same privileges as equivalent careers, since the career of BC civil servants will be eliminated. The proposal neutralizes one of the main criticisms raised by the National Union of Central Bank Employees (Sinal), which is against the PEC. The entity is still mobilizing against the autonomy and transformation of the agency into a public company, but the rapporteur will not negotiate on this point.
Parity between retirees and active civil servants was included after the public hearing in the Senate committee and actions that even involved the distribution of pamphlets against the PEC in Amazonas, the rapporteur’s electoral stronghold.
“It is the server that worries me now, although they are protesting for the sake of protesting and the movement is political. If we can improve the issue of parity, I would like to start with the server,” said Plínio Valério at the time.
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