From 2014-2015, Croatia’s national action plan prioritized public participation in the process of drafting their new Anti-Corruption Strategy, including the allocation of budget resources.
Problems and Purpose
Building on “anti-corruption momentum generated by the EU ascension process” the Croatian action plan included the commitment to develop a new anti-corruption strategy through public consultation, with the aim of improving transparency in key sectors, access to information, and open data reforms.[1]
This commitment involved the:
- “decision of the Government/Ministry of Justice on the establishment of a working
- group/coordination body for managing the process of drawing up the Draft strategy
- detecting corruption risks in all sectoral areas encompassed by the Draft of the strategy
- formation of sectoral teams for drawing up the draft strategy
- public consultation conducted on the draft strategy
- draft strategy drawn up before 30 September 2014
- strategy adopted by the Government before 30 December 2014” [2]
Background History and Context
The previous Anti-Corruption Strategy from June 19, 2008 had several action plans, but was a “time-limited strategic document”; as such, it was announced in early 2013 by the Ministry of Justice that a new strategy would be drafted. A working group was constituted in June 2014 to pursue this aim. [1]
Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities
The Croatian Ministry of Justice was the primarily responsible entity and a total of HRK 50,000 was allocated for the process. [1]
Participant Recruitment and Selection
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Methods and Tools Used
There were two thematic roundtables used to consult the public, one on November 19, 2014 and the other on December 9, 2014. [1] Online consultations took place from May 22 to June 21, 2015. [1]
What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation
A working group was established in June 2014, made up of bodies whose area of activity directly addressed the strategy’s issue subject. The sectoral working groups were convened to “analyze sector corruption risks, determine sectoral objectives and develop a sectoral report.” [1] In late 2014, the process of public consultation on the proposed draft anti-corruption strategy took place. online There were two thematic round tables throughout the consultation with the interested public. During a November 19 roundtable, a panel discussion was held on the identification of corruption risks in the operations of public authorities in relation to the private sector in the field of public procurement and economy; it was attended by Minister of Justice, Orsat Miljenić, Assistant Minister of Economy, Ismar Avdagić, President of the Croatian Employers' Association, Gordana Deranja, President of the Croatian Association of Employers, Petar Lovrić, Deputy President of the Croatian Association of Employers of the Coordination of Service Companies, Sadmir Hošić, and member of the State Commission for Control of Public Procurement Procedures, Daria Duždević. [3]
Additionally, “other thematic meetings were held on the topic in November and December 2014. After the proposal of the Strategy was finalized and the Strategy was adopted on 27 February 2015, the next step was the development of the accompanying action plan. It also went through a period of public consultation (from 22 May to 21 June 2015) on the e-Consultation portal and was adopted on 16 July 2015.” [1]
According to the self-assessment report, the resulting strategy focuses on preventing corruption or spotting systematic errors that encourage it, and was based on participation from relevant stakeholders, civil society organizations, media and social partners who collaboratively identified high-risk business processes and causes of systemic irregularities.[1]
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
After the proposed strategy was finalized and adopted in February, the accompanying action plan went through an e-consultation process, where a total of 20 comments were received; all were considered by the relevant authorities and three were declined. [1]
Adopted in July of 2015, the full effect of the strategy remains to be seen, but based on the positive responses “from stakeholders on the development process and the available material on the content and organization of the strategy, the Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) researcher concludes that the process had a definite impact in the preparatory phase, raising the standard of participatory decision-making on an important cross-sectoral policy issue of reducing corruption.” [1]
Analysis and Lessons Learned
In general, the Croatian Open Government Partnership action plan aimed at improving access to information, civic participation, and public accountability, but was found by the IRM researcher to have been negatively impacted by a change in government and two election cycles during the second year of its implementation. Despite this, in 2017, the researcher, Ivona Mendes, found that this commitment on the drafting of the new Anti-Corruption Strategy was completely implemented within the requisite time frame.[4] Its potential impact was deemed “transformative, since creating this type of cross-sectoral document meant that the government had to significantly extend its established procedures in order to provide more information and encourage civic participation.”[1] It allowed opportunities for the public to influence decisions, thereby providing a standard for other strategic decision making. [1] Interviewed stakeholders described the process as open and participatory and an example of good practice.
However, its “effect on improving the quality of available information was marginal since most of the information required for creating the strategy was available, though it had to be gathered and analysed by the sectoral working groups.” [1] The final report suggests that while the strategy helped improve transparency, progress on access to information and open data reforms were stalled as a result of a lack of political will.[1]
See Also
References
[1] Mendeš, I. (2017). Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) Progress Report: Croatia 2014-2015. Open Government Partnership. https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Croatia_2nd-IRM-Report_ENG_Final_0.pdf
[2] Open Government Partnership. (n.d.). Participation in Drafting the New Anti-Corruption Strategy (HR0022). Accessed 8/2/2020. https://www.opengovpartnership.org/members/croatia/commitments/HR0022/
[3] Ministarstvo pravosuđa Republike Hrvatske. (2014, Nov 20). Održan Okrugli stol na temu Strategije suzbijanja korupcije. https://pravosudje.gov.hr/vijesti/odrzan-okrugli-stol-na-temu-strategije-suzbijanja-korupcije/7601
[4] Open Government Partnership. (2017, March 2). Croatia End-of-Term Report 2014-2016. https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/croatia-end-of-term-report-2014-2016/
External Links
Croatia: 2014-2016 End-of-term Report
Online consultation portal: https://esavjetovanja.gov.hr/ECon/MainScreen?entityId=1155.