European Commission experts visited the Government Office for Cooperation with NGOs

Topics of discussion were the Open Government Partnership Council, the structures and mechanisms of cooperation with civil society and implementation of the Code of Practice on consultation with interested public in procedures of adopting laws, other regulations and acts (the Code).

 

Representatives of the mission were informed about the progress in implementing the Action Plan for Open Government Partnership Council. It has also been stated that progress is achieved in the area of ​​openness of public authorities, especially in terms of public disclosure of information. It was pointed out that, according to the Action Plan, at its session on 31^st of October 2012 Government adopted amendments to the rules of procedures which further endorses the Code of Practice on consultation with the interested public in procedures of adopting laws, other regulations and acts and highlights some of the important activities of the Action Plan, whose implementation has been completed or are currently in progress.

 

Representatives of the mission were familiarized with the work of the Government Office for Cooperation with NGOs and activities of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and National Foundation for Civil Society Development. In the field of cooperation with civil society organizations, representatives were informed about the implementation of the Code, which stated that significant progress was made in implementation of the Code in government administration in 2012. Public consultations have been conducted on more than 80 acts, regulations and laws, and a system of reporting the results of the consultations has been improved. Government Office for NGOs is preparing the report, which will be finalized by the end of first quarter of 2013.

 

Additionally, representatives of the mission were familiarized with the fact that the Government has, at its session on 12^th of July 2012, adopted the National Strategy for the Creation of an Enabling Environment for Civil Society Development from 2012 to 2016, which outlines the guidelines for creating an enabling environment for development of civil society till 2016 in order to further improve legal, financial and institutional support system for civil society organizations, who are an important factor of socio-economic development in the Republic of Croatia, as well as important stakeholder in the formulation and implementation of EU policies. Highlighted were some of the activities of the National Strategy which have already yielded some results.