ZAGREB, May 26, 2018 - Public Administration Minister Lovro Kuščević said on Friday that the final version of the bill on the prevention of conflict of interest would be ready by the end of next week, noting that the new bill would not restrict the powers of the parliamentary Conflict of Interest Commission but would rather expand them as well as the circle of officials to which it would apply.
"Wishing to increase transparency in the conduct of state officials and align the existing law with decisions of the Constitutional Court and the Act on the Protection of Personal Data, the government has decided to amend the Conflict of Interest Act. The bill is still in its working stage. We expect to have its final version by the end of next week, and then we will be able to discuss its specific measures as well as the bill in its entirety," Kuščević said when asked by reporters if the bill would restrict the Conflict of Interest Commission's powers.
"The purpose of this law is to make the conduct of state officials more ethical and expand the Commission's powers as well as the circle of officials to whom it would apply," said Kuščević.
Asked who was drafting the bill, he said that a task force at his ministry was. Asked if the existing law would be amended or an entirely new one would be drafted considering strong opposition to legislative changes, Kuščević said that the Conflict of Interest Commission said that it had already drafted a good proposal and that he expected it to submit its draft by Monday so that it could be discussed on Tuesday.
"There are several versions – one made by the Public Administration Ministry, one made by the Conflict of Interest Commission, and a version of the old law. All those versions will be discussed on Tuesday... I assure you that very soon the task force will present a single, good law," said Kuščević.
Asked about comments by the task force that the deadline for drafting the bill was very short, Kuščević said that the task force had been working on the bill for a year and that the new law had to be adopted this year.
Reporters also asked Kuščević what the EU General Data Protection Regulation, which went into force today, would bring for Croatian citizens. "In the digital era... when everyone knows everything about everyone, when someone who has ill intentions can ruin your future with a single piece of your personal data, both the EU Regulation and our national law are taking effect at the right moment. We want to protect all our citizens against misuse of their data," Kuščević told reporters in Dubrovnik where he attended the first Council of Europe conference held since Croatia took over chairmanship of that organisation on May 18.
