Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Miro Kovač presented in the parliament today the Plan Proposal for Aligning the Legislature of the Republic of Croatia with the Acquis Communautaire in 2016.
Unofficial translation of Kovač’s address:
“Mr Speaker, esteemed MPs,
Allow me to present to you the Plan Proposal for Aligning the Legislature of the Republic of Croatia with the Acquis Communautaire in 2016.
In accordance with the existent harmonization dynamic, for the third year in a row in the status of full-fledged UE membership, the government has drafted the Programme for Adopting and Implementing the Acquis for this year, whose constituent part is the Legislature Alignment Plan.
The plan presents a complete and timely overview of all the legislative activities the government is planning for this year, stemming from the full-fledged EU membership and our obligation to continue harmonizing our legislature with the acquis.
During the pre-accession period, Croatia has invested considerable effort in adopting the acquis, in which the Croatian parliament has played a pivotal role. This is also evident in the fact that since the beginning of the accession process, the parliament has passed 718 acts harmonized with the acquis.
Today, as a full-fledged member state of the EU, Croatia is adapting its legislature concurrently with the other member states. At the same time, as an equal partner at the table with the rest of the member states, Croatia is actively participating in preparing and drafting the EU legislature.
It is important to underscore the role of the Croatian parliament in said process, which is manifesting itself in three ways.
First of all, it is the right of the Croatian parliament, together with the national parliaments of other member states, to directly implement the procedure of checking if the subsidiarity principle is being respected in the proposals of the EU legislative acts. This means that the Croatian parliament has been involved from the start in the process of passing regulations and decisions of the EU, whose drafts are delivered to it directly. The Croatian parliament has the right to inspect proposals of the EU acts to determine whether in those areas where the EU and member states share jurisdiction it is really necessary to pass the act on the European level or if those goals could be better realized through national legislative measures. That is the subsidiarity principle.
Apart from this direct involvement, the Croatian parliament also influences the EU legislation indirectly by overseeing the Croatian government’s activities in the EU institutions, notably the Council of the European Union, by discussing Croatia’s position on EU documents for the purpose of better realization and protection of Croatia’s national interests.
Finally, the role of Croatian parliament is to pass national acts which adopt and ensure the implementation of the acquis. The acquis is a living organism which is continually changing and evolving.
Therefore, the government has once again drafted and on 11 February adopted the program for Programme for Adopting and Implementing the Acquis for 2016. This is a one-year programme document representing an efficient instrument for planning and monitoring the adoption of the acquis.
A similar programme of transposition, i.e. transferring the new acquis in a regular yearly harmonization, is implemented by other member states as well.
The Plan for Aligning the Legislature of the Republic of Croatia with the Acquis Communautaire in 2016 contains a total of 75 acts adopting the new acquis communautaire. This year’s plan of legislative activities is once again divided into quarters. The government plans to submit 29 acquis harmonization act proposals in the first quarter, 28 in the second, 12 in the third and six in the fourth.
The legislation harmonization plan represents an efficient instrument which also has a preventive effect in regard to procedures the European Commission could launch against Croatia due to violations of the EU law.
One has to stress the importance of adopting the acquis in a timely fashion, otherwise the European Court of Justice could instigate a procedure for violating the EU law, which could result in fees.
I would like to underline that in these three years of membership, Croatia has achieved the best results of all the member states in regard to adopting the acquis in the area of internal market, as confirmed by the European Commission in its Single Market Progress Report. These achievements are part of the heritage of the successful harmonization process during the pre-accession period, but are also an indication of Croatia’s continued commitment to full implementation of European regulations and standards.
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Esteemed MPs, having presented the Plan for Aligning the Legislature of the Republic of Croatia with the Acquis Communautaire, I believe that by passing this document Croatia is confirming efficient functioning in the status of full-fledged membership as well as the promotion of national interests through taking part in the creation of EU common policies.
It is also important to underline that the continuous alignment of national legislature with the acquis ensures a timely and accurate implementation of the adopted legislature, which has a profound effect on the everyday lives of Croatian citizens.
Given the crucial and irreplaceable role of the Croatian parliament in debating and passing bills, I would like to propose that that the parliament adopts the Plan for Aligning the Legislature of the Republic of Croatia with the Acquis Communautaire for 2016.
Thank you, Mr Speaker, esteemed MPs.”