ZAGREB, January 17th, 2018 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said during Question Time in Parliament on Wednesday that the government would reduce Value Added Tax (VAT).
Reminding him that in the election campaign Plenković promised that if he became prime minister he would reduce VAT, Marijo Habek of the Social Democrats (SDP) asked Plenković if he would keep his promise.
Plenković briefly responded "Yes."
The prime minister also commented on the process of ratifying the Istanbul Convention. The SDP-led government which signed the convention had two years to send it to the ratification process but had failed to do so, Plenković said.
He recalled that last year he had said that Croatia would ratify the Convention and added that the relevant minister had carried out everything necessary, including public consultation, which showed that the topic the Convention deals with - violence against women - has been undermined and gender ideology has now come into focus.
"It seems to me we need to shed light on this debate all the way and see what the Convention will bring us, on top of national legislation. So, we will do everything in this term in office to resolve this issue in the best possible way," Plenković said.
Referring to the arbitration process with Slovenia, MP Ivan Vilibor Sinčić of Živi zid said European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and the EU had clearly stood by Slovenia and asked Plenković if Croatia would give in to the pressure from Brussels and Ljubljana and allow Slovenia to take what never belong to it.
Plenković disagreed with Sinčić and said the European Commission has a pretty simple approach. It wanted to resolve the problem on the agenda, which they did not want but feel partly responsible because the former Commission had mediated in the signing of the Arbitration Agreement.
We are talking with Slovenia, we will insist on a rational dialogue, Plenković said.
