The Croatian government is entirely committed to fighting fraud and corruption in the use of European structural and investment funds and it will see to having these funds invested in projects which will meet the key economic and social needs of the country, Deputy Prime Minister and Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Branko Grcic said on Wednesday, opening a seminar in Zagreb focusing on this issue.
EU Regional Policy Commissioner Johannes Hahn issued a statement before the seminar, saying that the European Union is implementing a zero tolerance policy when it came to the misuse of European funds.
We have to protect future investments and use them the best we can so that citizens can personally feel their benefits in the form of new jobs and better quality of life, he added. Croatia already has experience in managing EU funds within the frameworks of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA). However, these are much bigger investments which is why we are continuing to closely cooperate with Croatian institutions at all levels so as to prepare their employees the best we can for the application of these funds and guarantee administrative capacities and thus secure a quality investment of every euro, Hahn said.
Davorka Budimir of Transparency International Croatia said her organisation had been systematically advocating the implementation of the highest EU values in Croatia, adding that these values, together with EU funds, would pave the way for an even better Europe for the generations to come.
In the current programme period (2014-2020), over EUR 10.5 billion will be invested in Croatian regions from European structural and investment funds, which will represent one of the main sources of public investments in Croatia.
According to the latest survey carried out by Eurobarometer and Transparency International, more than 94% of Croatians believe that corruption is widespread in Croatia.
According to figures provided by the European Union, between 2008 and 2012 a total of 13 cases of possible misuse of European funds have been reported, worth approximately EUR 90 million. Most of these cases happened in public procurement, the Croatian Justice Ministry said.
Today's seminar was organised by the European Commission, the Croatian Regional Development and EU Funds Ministry and Transparency International Croatia.
(Hina)
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