Transparency and Financing of the Referendum Activity (HR0045)

Which public issue does the measure address? The current Referendum Act and other forms of personal participation in the exercise of state power and local and regional self-government stipulate the calling and implementation of referendums and other forms of personal participation of Croatian citizens with voting rights in the exercise of state power and local and regional self- government (hereinafter: the current Referendum Act). One of the issues which the Referendum Act does not solve is the collection, recording and publication of information on referendum initiatives.

What does the measure include? One of the planned activities of the State Electoral Commission important for achieving the values of the OGP is the establishment of the Record of Referendum Initiatives. At the moment, this type of record does not exist. Therefore, it is significantly more difficult, if not impossible, to obtain information about referendums conducted at the local level for a certain period of time, since no state body has such aggregated data. Upon establishment of the Record of Referendum Initiatives, it is necessary to ensure its publication in one place, on the website of the State Electoral Commission. In addition, with the entry into force of the Act on Financing Political Activities, Election Campaigns and Referenda in March 2019 (hereinafter: the Financing Act), the State Electoral Commission has been given the authority to carry out the supervision of the financing of the referendum activity of the organising committee in the national and local referendums (hereinafter: participants in the referendum activity). The Financing Act prescribes that financial statements which relate to referendum activity should be delivered to the State Electoral Commission by entering into the information system for supervising financing within the aforementioned Statutory Deadlines and that on the first working day after their delivery they are published on the website of the State Electoral Commission in an open, machine-readable format. State Electoral Commission in the coming period intends to conduct proactive training for participants of the referendum activities in order to minimise any violations of the Financing Act.

How does the measure contribute to resolving the public issue? The implementation of legal and regulatory provisions raises the quality of information and public involvement in the process of referendum activities.

Why is this measure relevant to the values of the Open Government Partnership? The establishment of the Record of Referendum Initiatives and its publication on the website of the State Electoral Commission raises the degree of transparency of all information relevant to a particular referendum initiative. Publication of the financial reports in the field of financing the referendum activity allows all interested persons to obtain quick information on the way of financing the participants of a particular referendum activity (own resources/donations) and the content and level of costs of the participants in the referendum activity, thereby raising the degree of transparency of such financing.

Activities: Implementation start date: Implementation end date:

5.1. Conducting training of participants of the referendum activity with the aim of strengthening the transparency of financing of referendum activity October 2023 December 2023

5.2. Establishing the Record of Referendum Initiatives January 2023 March 2023

5.3. Conducting training of participants of the referendum activity with the aim of introducing participants to the provisions of the Referendum Act and strengthening the transparency of the financing of referendum activities October 2023 December 2023

Activity name: 5.1. Conducting training of participants of the referendum activity with the aim of strengthening the transparency of financing of referendum activity Implementation indicators: - Online training session for participants of the referendum activity developed and published on the websites of the State Electoral Commission The baseline value of result indicators: Online training session for participants of referendum activities was published on the websites of the State Electoral Commission in the fourth quarter of 2020 in accordance with the Act on Financing Political Activities, Election Campaigns and Referenda. The training needs to be updated, adapted to possible changes of positive-legal regulations and compatible with the practice in the implementation of monitoring the financing of referendum activities, as well as the monitoring of the financing of political activities and the supervision of the financing of election campaigns Source of data and frequency of data collection: The Act that prescribes calling and conducting referendums The Act that prescribes the implementation of monitoring the financing of referendum activities and reports on the conducted supervision of the financing of referendums Frequency of data collection: on a one-time basis Financial resources required (Source of funding and planned resources): Resources are assured from the State Budget, section 012 State Electoral Commission of the Republic of Croatia, activity K896003 Informatisation of the State Electoral Commission, in the amount of HRK 50,000 in the year 2023. Implementation start date and implementation deadline: October 2023 – December 2023

Activity name: 5.2. Establishing the Record of Referendum Initiatives Implementation indicators: - Record of Referendum Initiatives established and published on the websites of the State Electoral Commission The baseline value of result indicators: The baseline value is – 0. 36 Source of data and frequency of data collection: Record of Referendum Initiatives established Record of Referendum Initiatives published on the websites of the State Electoral Commission Frequency of data collection: on a permanent basis Financial resources required (Source of funding and planned resources): Resources will be assured from the State Budget, section 012 State Electoral Commission of the Republic of Croatia, - activity K896003 Informatisation of the State Electoral Commission, in the amount of HRK 258,750.00 for the year 2023, - activity A896006 Implementation of the referendum, in the amount of HRK 247,500.00 annually for the year 2023 Implementation start date and implementation deadline: January 2023 – March 2023

Activity name: 5.3. Conducting training of participants of the referendum activity with the aim of introducing participants to the provisions of the Financing Act and strengthening the transparency of the financing of referendum activities Implementation indicators: - Webinars for participants of the referendum activity recorded and published on the websites of the State Electoral Commission The baseline value of result indicators: The baseline value is – 0. Source of data and frequency of data collection: Webinars published on the websites of the State Electoral Commission Information about webinars published on the websites of the State Electoral Commission Frequency: on a one-time basis Financial resources required (Source of funding and planned resources): Resources are assured from the State Budget, section 012, State Electoral Commission of the Republic of Croatia, activity A896002 Administration and management, and they relate to resources for the ordinary activities of the Commission. Implementation start date and implementation deadline: October 2023 – December 2023

Action Plan Review

Commitment 5. Referenda Transparency

● Verifiable: Yes

● Does it have an open government lens? Yes

● Potential for results: Modest