Gov't to propose more than 100 bills this year

The Croatian government plans to propose 134 bills this year, including those adjusting laws to the European Union acquis and those that form part of the National Reform Programme, according to the Plan for Legislative Activities that was adopted at a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

The plan was prepared in cooperation with ministries and other relevant bodies, and for 21 of the total of 134 bills, procedures to test the efficiency of regulations will be conducted.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said that over the past seven years the government had ensured better predictability, security and systematic organisation of certain administrative areas, analysis of the extent of impact of regulations, dialogue with stakeholders, public consultations and assessment of the effectiveness of regulations.

He said that the most important thing was that the number of bills on fast track had been reduced, underscoring that 85% of bills were adopted in regular parliamentary procedure which "shows respect for the parliament."

Citizens who deposit HRK 5,000 into housing plans this year to receive HRK 60 in govt subsidies

The government decided that citizens who deposit HRK 5,000 into housing savings plans this year will receive a subsidy of 1.2 percent or HRK 60, and a total of HRK 16 million will be paid from the state budget for this purpose.

At its meeting on Thursday, the government recommended to parliament to adopt the annual reports on the work of the Electronic Media Council and Agency and the report on the operation of the Croatian Broadcasting Corporation (HRT).

Speaking of the work of the Electronic Media Council in 2017, Culture Minister Nina Obuljen Korzinek said that it had issued 44 sanctions, including 36 warnings and eight cautions.

The Electronic Media Agency made a great contribution to efforts to reduce hate speech in the public sphere by raising public awareness and encouraging pluralism. The agency continued promoting media literacy via the medijskapismenost.hr website by participating in and conducting research on the media habits of children and parents, working on new projects and bringing together participants in media literacy projects.

As for the recent wave of lawsuits against journalists and editors, the minister proposed establishing a Media Council to reduce the pressure on the media.

Speaking of the public broadcaster HRT, Obuljen Korzinek said that the company had generated a profit of HRK 100 million (EUR 13.5 million) in 2017, most of which had been used to improve its business and cover the losses from the previous period. However, the loss carried over at the end of 2017 was still high, reaching HRK 549.6 million (EUR 74.2 million).

Business results indicate that certain progress has been made, as seen in the increased profit, but the focus should continue to be on reducing labour costs so that more money can be directed at production, she added.

In 2017, the government and the HRT concluded a new five-year agreement.

Text: Hina



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