Presentation of the central web portal "e-Savjetovanja"/"e-Consultations" for consultations with interested public in the processes of regulation making was held on Monday 27 April 2015.
The central portal "e-Savjetovanja" is a new step in the development process of consultations with interested public in the processes of adopting laws, regulations and other acts that will enable a simple approach to all open consultations in one place, easier commentation of provisions from draft regulations and, in general, contribute to a quality cooperation with citizens and all interested social groups in the process of public policy formation.
The portal is the continuation to the results of the successful EU financed project of the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Crafts, while the application alone will be linked to the system "e-Citizens". The portal will be managed by the Government Office for Cooperation with NGOs as the body in charge of monitoring the implementation of the Code of Practice on Consultation with the Interested Public in Procedures of Adopting Laws, Other Regulations and Acts.
The portal has been presented by the Minister of Public Administration, Arsen Bauk, Deputy Minister of Entrepreneurship and Crafts Dražen Pros and Head of Government Office for Cooperation with NGOs Igor Vidačak. The advantages of the "e-Savjetovanja" application have been presented by Ratko Mutavdžić from the Croatian Employers Association and Jelena Berković from the GONG Association.
Minister Arsen Bauk emphasized that the portal will increase citizens' participation in decision making to a higher level and that the portal is the continuation of public administration development and reform.
Deputy Minister Dražen Pros highlighted the positive experiences of the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Crafts in developing the portal through the use of EU funds and said that the entrepreneurs can now follow the amendments of the legislative framework in due time, but also give their comments and proposals and in that manner directly have an effect on the legislative framework they are interested in.
Head of the Government Office for Cooperation with NGOs Igor Vidačak gave an overview of the information on public consultations in the regulation adoption processes and pointed out that the number of public consultations has been increasing over the last few years, and that in the last four years there has been an increase of more than 1000 % of this number, which shows the citizens' interest and will to influence the process of public policy formation. Mr. Vidačak also presented the main features of portal, emphasizing the simplicity of user interface and invited everyone to register into the "e-Savjetovanja" system, in order to participate in consultations and receive the information on open consultations timely.
Ratko Mutavdžić from the Croatian Employers Association said that the "e-Savjetovanja" is the result of common cooperation of the public and private sector, oriented to both citizens and employers. He also stated that the portal directly affects two indexes: competitiveness index and Digital and Society Index, i. e. the European Union index monitoring digital society development in the European Union Member States.
Jelena Berković from the GONG Association said that altogether the portal presents a large step forward for Croatian citizens and in the international communication. However, she stressed that the Law on the Right to Access Information has to provide all the preconditions for the effective use of "e-Savjetovanja" portal.
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