Good governance / Anti-corruption policy

On the occasion of International Anti-Corruption Day, observed on December 9, the nongovernmental election-monitoring organisation GONG on Friday warned that after it joined the European Union, a lack of a true political will for fighting corruption at all levels was evident in Croatia.

This paper is based on the research Croatia’s Captured Places conducted in three local and one regional government unit in Croatia (Dubrovnik, Slavonski Brod, Zagreb and the County of Istria). It was focused on actors and mechanisms of governance in which a system or parts of a system are appropriated by powerful individuals, groups or networks to favour their own interests. Furthermore, it explored the extent to which citizens of these communities were aware of such practices and citizens’ attitudes towards these practices.

The chairwoman of the parliamentary Conflict of Interest Committee, Dalia Oreskovic, said at a news conference that the committee would remove declarations of assets of office-holders from the committee's website later on Monday, following an executive order by the Croatian Personal Data Protection Agency, however, the committee would also appeal the order before the Administrative Court.

Transparency International said today that Europe urgently needs lobbying reform. A new report from the anti-corruption group found that of 19 European countries assessed, only seven have some form of dedicated lobbying law or regulation, allowing for nearly unfettered influence of business interests on the daily lives of Europeans.

The national anti-corruption council on Tuesday welcomed progress made in the implementation of anti-corruption measures in state-run companies, but it warned that it was unacceptable that even two thirds of such companies did not make public donations and sponsorships they received.