The Croatian parliamentary presidency will be able to, in exceptional cases, recommend that a discussion of a certain topic can last a specified time and that the time assigned for discussion for political parties be on par to their representation in the Sabor, the chairman of the parliamentary Committee on the Constitution, Standing Orders and…
Month: June 2013
Parliament in EU affairs – on the wrong side of St. Mark’s Square?
The Croatian Parliament opened its session on Wednesday with a debate on a bill governing cooperation between the country’s Parliament and Government in European affairs, which is due to take effect on July 1. Under the bill, the Prime Minister and the Government will be required to report more often than initially foreseen on EU…
NGOs express dissatisfaction with strategic investments bill
Several non-governmental organisations on Thursday gathered outside the government building to express their dissatisfaction with a bill on strategic investment projects, claiming that the bill was not transparent and facilitated shortcuts for “privileged investors”. The risks to terrain, public good and transparent management still exist in the bill, the NGOs said after the government sent…
Government sends strategic investments bill to parliament
The government sent to parliament on Thursday a bill on Croatia’s strategic investment projects aimed at encouraging investments by shortening and simplifying administrative procedures. The bill defines criteria for the selection of strategic projects, including compliance with physical plans, capital costs of at least HRK 150 million, and the possibility of co-financing from European Union…
Calling on the croatian government to consult civil society on eu and internal affairs
The EU-Croatia Civil Society Joint Consultative Committee (JCC), a joint body of Croatian and EU civil society, which was created to monitor Croatia’s accession to the EU, held its 13th and last meeting in Zagreb on 18 June 2013. At that meeting the JCC was informed of the open letter to the Croatian Government and…
Croatia stagnating in democratic development
Freedom House, the US non-governmental organisation, has given Croatia the same scores as last year in its “Nations in Transit 2013” report on democratic development in 29 Central European and Eurasian countries. Croatia’s average democracy score is 3.61, indicating a stagnation in democratic development. Nonetheless, it remains the best ranked country in the Balkans, followed…