Roundtable “Importance of Anti-Corruption Policies in the Context of Local and Regional Government Functions” held in Varaždin

Varaždin, 9 May - A roundtable was held for the professional public and leaders of cities and municipalities of Varaždin and Međimurje counties, entitled “Importance of Anti-Corruption Policies in the Context of Local and Regional Government Functions”.

The roundtable consisted of two panel discussions, with a keynote address by Mr Mladen Bručić-Matic, Director for European Affairs, International and Judicial Cooperation and Anti-Corruption at the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration, who briefly referred to the elements of the national anti-corruption campaign and the entire legislative anti-corruption framework adopted so far, including the Protection of Reporters of Irregularities Act, Conflict of Interest Prevention Act, the Right of Access to Information Act, Amendments to the Government Act as well as the Code of Conduct for State Officials in Executive Authorities.

All bodies need to act in synergy

The first panel discussion, on the topic of “Prevention of corruption at local and regional level - powers of independent institutions - experiences and prospects”, dealt with the work and powers of the State Election Commission, the Information Commissioner, the State Audit Office and the State Commission for the Control of Public Procurement Procedures, which are responsible for individual areas of corruption prevention. Special emphasis was placed on experiences and challenges in the work of these independent institutions at local and regional level.

Ms Maja Kuhar, President of the State Commission for the Control of Public Procurement Procedures, stated that the value of public procurement in 2022 amounted to almost 10 billion euros (9.81 billion), which is an indication of the vast amount of cases that this body encounters on a daily basis. The State Commission has both preventive and corrective role when it comes to corruption - it publishes all decisions in their entirety on its website, so if someone considers that a certain tendering procedure was manipulated, it may lead to the annulment of the procedure. Ms Kuhar stressed that anti-corruption activities require that all the relevant bodies act in synergy - the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration, the State Audit Office and all other specialised institutions operating in certain areas of preventive anti-corruption policy, which was supported by other panelists.

Assistant Auditor General Dr Ivan Čulo stressed that the State Audit Office oversees 15,000 bodies, performing financial audits, efficiency audits and compliance audits. All irregularities identified are included in reports submitted to the State Attorney’s Office, but are also publicly available. He also pointed out that irregularity does not necessarily mean criminal activity. Not only is it necessary to make efforts to reduce irregularities and to educate citizens about what corruption really is, but we should appeal to the media to report on this topic objectively and to be aware of the damage done by reporting on irregularities that are not criminalised in a sensationalist manner.

Ms Ivana Belec, member of the State Election Commission, stressed that the Commission currently has more than 1,500 entities in supervision, checking the financing of election campaigns, referendum activities and regular activities.

Information Commissioner Anita Markić concluded that the more information is publicly available, the less chance there is to hide something, and therefore she encouraged local and regional authorities to publish everything that can be made public. All panellists agreed that education at all levels is still very important.
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First effects of the Lobbying Act to be visible this year

During the second panel discussion, regulatory solutions of the recently adopted Lobbying Act were presented and its future implementation discussed in the context of the work of the Commission for the Resolution of Conflicts of Interest, which will be responsible for keeping the Register of Lobbyists and other activities in accordance with the Act.

Ms Aleksandra Jozić Ileković, President of the Commission for the Resolution of Conflicts of Interest and Mr Mladen Bručić-Matic, Director for European Affairs, International and Judicial Cooperation and Anti-Corruption at the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration, once again welcomed the adoption of the first law on lobbying, which will enter into force on 1 October this year. Although it is still early to speak about effective implementation, the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration expects to see the first results this year, i.e. registrations in the Register of Lobbyists, which will be managed electronically by the Commission for the Resolution of Conflicts of Interest. This further strengthens the role of the Commission as an independent anti-corruption body.

Ms Jozić Ileković pointed out the view of the Commission that lobbying can be honourable, fair, conscientious, transparent and integrity-driven, and the Commission certainly intends to take account of this. The Act is expected to remove certain stigma and influence public perception of lobbyists and lobbying, and education and awareness raising represent important step in the acceptance and understanding of lobbying and the law governing it.

The roundtable was organised as part of the project “Engaging the general public in the fight against corruption by raising public awareness about the harmfulness of corruption, the necessity of prevention and legal protection of reporting persons”, which is being implemented under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. Within the framework of the educational and information campaign, a number of activities are carried out with the aim of raising public awareness of the harmfulness of corruption and the necessity of its prevention and suppression.

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