Regulation of Lobbying (HR0023)

• 2020 Annual ReportPolitical Finance Transparency in Croatia (March 23, 2021)

Drafting the analysis of the legislative framework in the area of lobbying Implementation indicators: Drafted analysis of the legislative framework in the area of lobbying and accordingly, procedure of amending the existing act or drafting of a new one initiated. Lead institutions: Ministry of Justice Supporting institutions: Information Commissioner Start date: Not specified, End date: 31 December 2014

14. Regulation of Lobbying

Commitment Text:

14.1. Drafting the analysis of the legislative framework in the area of lobbying

Implementation indicators:

Drafted analysis of the legislative framework in the area of lobbying and accordingly, procedure of amending the existing act or drafting of a new one initiated.

Lead institutions: Ministry of Justice

Supporting institutions: Information Commissioner

Start date: Not specified   End date: December 2014

Commitment Aim:

There currently exists no law regulating lobbying in Croatia. Adopting the law on lobbying has been on the political agenda for years, with most stakeholders supporting its adoption but with only a few actually pushing for ratification. The aim of this commitment was to provide an analysis of the legislative framework on lobbying as a basis for amending existing acts or drafting a new one.

Status

Midterm: Not started

At the begining of 2014, the Ministry of Justice announced that it would start drafting an analysis of the existing legislative framework and pursue further action, such as either amending the existing legislation or drafting a new law dedicated specifically to lobbying. However, in the self-assessment report by the government, this activity was marked as “not started.” The interviewed stakeholders from the Ministry of Justice stated that the delayed start of this activity is related to the adoption of strategic documents in the field of combating corruption (the aforementioned Anti-Corruption Strategy, commitment 13). This was also confirmed by the interviewed ministry representative,^{[Note 75: Interview conducted on 30 September 2015. For more information, see the IRM midterm report.]} who stated that its implementation was planned for the fourth quarter of 2015 in the anti-corruption action plan.

End of term: Limited

According to the draft self-assessment report, this commitment is substantially implemented. However, even though an analysis of the legal framework in the area of lobbying was drafted, the Ministry of Judiciary still needs to carry out further consultations with other public bodies and interested stakeholders. According to the ministry, the analysis sets out the regulation, self-regulation, and legislative frameworks for lobbying in the European Union and beyond. It analyses the recommendations and guidelines of national and international organisations for the regulation of lobbying practices and sets out the conditions, needs, and reasons for regulating lobbying activities in Croatia. The analysis makes recommendations regarding possible regulation of lobbying practices, thus deciding whether there is a need for a special law to regulate lobbying. However, this draft is still not available to the interested public. Therefore, the IRM researcher finds the commitment completion to be limited.

Did it open government?

Civic participation: Did not change

Public accountability: Did not change

Regulating lobbying activities in Croatia has been a contentious issue for years. This commitment sought to provide a basis for making a policy decision on regulating lobbying by providing a comprehensive analysis of the issues, in addition to including the comparative policies in other countries. On that note, GONG published a press release stating that “it is necessary to regulate the activities of lobbyists in order to make information about who lobbies in Croatia and in whose interest, available to the public in a single registry.”^{[Note 76: Available at http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/gong-zahtjeva-obavezno-objavljivanje-informacija-o-sastancima-duznosnika/922275.aspx.]} This opinion was reiterated by other CSO representatives,^{[Note 77: Information commissioner event, 28 September 2016. See Methodological Note and http://www.pristupinfo.hr/en/povjerenik-za-etiku/.}

] who noted that the time has come for lobbying regulation to finally be adopted in Croatia, following the standards set by the European Parliament. Since the implementation of the commitment was limited in the observed two-year period, the IRM researcher finds that the government is yet to have a comprehensive lobbying framework. Thus, the commitment did not improve government openness.

Carried forward?

The next action has not been drafted or released by the government in accordance with the OGP schedule. The Ministry of Judiciary did not include any next steps in the draft self-assessment report. The IRM researcher, therefore, suggests the following steps to reach a full completion of the unfinished milestones:

•  Carrying out a public consultation with all interested stakeholders;

•  Finalising and disseminating the results of the analysis; and

•  Initiating the process of amending existing laws or drafting a new law accordingly.