Minister Habijan presents new EU Regulation on political advertising in Parliament: ‘We need to put citizens at the centre, not corporations’

The Minister pointed out that the Regulation regulates political advertising in the media and information space, especially the digital environment, between political actors, sponsors and citizens as end-users

The Proposal of the Act implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/900 on the transparency and targeting of political advertising sets out clear rules for advertising by political actors in the media and digital space, with the aim of increasing transparency and protecting citizens in a modern, digital environment.

The Regulation defines the obligations of providers of political advertising services, political advertising contractors and sponsors.

Member States are obliged to designate national authorities in charge of supervision of the implementation. In Croatia, the competent authorities will be the Agency for Electronic Media, the Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries and the Personal Data Protection Agency.

The Agency for Electronic Media will act as a national contact point to coordinate communication with the competent authorities of other Member States of the European Union.

The State Electoral Commission of the Republic of Croatia will be in charge of drafting instructions regarding the application of the article of the Regulation imposing an obligation on providers of political advertising services to submit financial reports on the financing of election campaign and referendum activities.  

The Minister stressed that the aim of the Regulation is to put citizens at the centre and to ensure that the digital space in which political campaigns take place today is orderly and secure.

‘We live in a time when political campaigns are no longer conducted door-to-door, but in a virtual world, which has so far been almost completely unregulated. This Regulation gives certainty and clarity to citizens, and returns democracy to whom it belongs, namely citizens, rather than big corporations’, the Minister said.

Croatia actively participated in the preparatory discussions in Brussels and advocated for the need to protect citizens' fundamental rights, and for greater transparency in political advertising. The new rules will also help prevent the misuse of personal data and protect democratic processes.

‘The electoral process is one of the fundamental pillars of any democracy. Our goal is to make it transparent and open, in line with the values we stand for as a society’, concluded the Minister.

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