The Global Compact not legally binding, minister Božinović to represent Croatia at the Marrakesh conference

The government on Friday sent to the parliament a new bill on financing political activities such as election and referendum campaigns and similar activities.

Public Administration Lovro Kuscevic said that it had been established that the existing legislation had a number of deficiencies and shortcomings that affect the transparent performance of political activities and therefore the government was sending a completely new bill to parliament.

The new legislation defines for the first time what referendum activities are, and envisages the introduction of an information technology system for monitoring the funding. For that purpose, those involved in political activities are expected to submit financial reports to the State Election System.

The new legislation defines the criteria for determining the amount of funds which local authorities are supposed to set aside for annual financing of political parties.

It will also regulate in a more equitable fashion the distribution of budget funds to political parties, Kuscevic said.

The funds will be distributed based in the number of seats in the parliament and assemblies at local levels, considering the final results of the elections, he said. Currently, the money is distributed according to the state of affairs when legislatures are inaugurated.

The parliament and local assemblies will have the duty to present reports on the financing of political parties and independent political representatives annually.

The donations exceeding 5,000 kuna will require the conclusion of agreements between donors and donation recipients.

The upper limit for permissible costs in a campaign per slate in the election for the European Parliament will be increased from the current upper amount of 1.5 million kuna to 4 million kuna, which, Kuscevic said, is half the amount of the permissible funds in the presidential election campaign.

The money to which an independent lawmaker or local councilor is entitled will be granted to the political party they join, which will put an end to the practice of giving the money directly to lawmakers or local  councilors even after they become members of parties.

The government sent the Fiscal Responsibility Bill to parliament on Friday, introducing three fiscal rules -- structural balance, budget expenditure and public debt -- and underscoring its commitment to strengthening the independence of the Fiscal Policy Commission.

The first Croatian law on fiscal responsibility was adopted in 2010 and was amended upon accession to the European Union in mid-2013.

The new bill is fully adjusted to obligations stemming from the Stability and Growth Pact.

The first rule refers to structural balance whereby the targeted value becomes a medium-term budget objective.

The second rule regulates budget expenditure, and general government budget expenditure growth must not exceed the referential potential growth rate of the country's economy.

The third rule does not allow public debt to exceed 60% of GDP, Finance Minister Zdravko Maric said at the government session.

The main task of the Fiscal Policy Commission is to envisage and evaluate the implementation of fiscal rules.

The Marrakesh agreement gives every state the sovereign right to define its own migration policy, protect its borders and decide who to allow into the country, and it clearly differentiates between legal and illegal migration, the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Marija Pejcinovic Buric, said at a cabinet meeting on Friday.

She presented a report on the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, which is to be adopted at a conference in Marrakesh on December 10-11.

Croatia was involved with the other 26 EU member states in negotiations on the text of the document, and it was important to all of them that certain fundamental principles were included in the document, which was eventually accomplished, the minister said.

"The Global Compact is not an international treaty, it is not legally binding and hence it is not signed. It is a catalogue of measures encouraging states to cooperate on issues related to regular migration," Pejcinovic Buric said.

"States sovereignly decide which measures they will apply in accordance with national law and existing international legal commitments. Every state will continue to sovereignly decide on its own national policy on migration and the stay of foreign nationals on its territory and this concerns only regular migration," she said.

Pejcinovic Buric welcomed the decision for Minister of the Interior Davor Bozinovic to represent Croatia at the Marrakesh conference.

Bozinovic said that no country could deal with the problem of migration on its own, adding that it was a global issue that could not be ignored.

"This document does not open the door to new migrants," he said, stressing that any attempt at international level to alleviate the migration pressure deserved attention.

"Migration cannot be dealt with on anyone's borders. It can be dealt with, or I should say alleviated, only through cooperation between states and by removing the causes at their origin, which the Compact addresses," Bozinovic said.

The government will send Pejcinovic Buric's report and a translation of the Global Compact to parliament.

The government on Friday sent two energy bills to parliament for a second reading, aiming to ensure energy savings and further liberalise the energy market.

The Energy Efficiency Bill transposes the EU Energy Efficiency Directive into Croatian law, under which every member state should introduce energy efficiency obligation schemes by 31 December 2020 in order to achieve energy savings among end users.

Member states can also take alternative measures to achieve end-use energy savings or combine energy efficiency obligation schemes with alternative measures. In the national action plan for energy efficiency, Croatia has opted for a combined approach.

The second bill concerns renewable energy sources and high efficiency cogeneration.

Ivo Milatic, state secretary at the Ministry of Environment and Energy, said that the purpose of the two bills was to further liberalise the energy market in Croatia.

Text: Hina

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