October the 21st, 2022 - This week in Croatian politics saw everything from hopes of energy drink bans, the Russian media writing about Milanovic and former government ministers getting new jobs to gas prices, wage proposals and hospital construction plans.

MEP Biljana Borzan (SDP) thinks the Health Ministry and the Croatian Government should ban the sale of potentially dangerous energy drinks to minors

How many kids need to suffer the health consequences of consuming energy drinks before the government steps in and does something about it? Borzan asks, referencing the horrific case in which a twelve year old suffered a stroke.

"I've been warning people about this problem for years, I've submitted a proposal two times for a legal ban through Croatian parliament, but the Minister of Health and the government don't even care about it," said Borzan, recalling another energy-drink related death, this time of a thirteen year-old in Zagreb.

"I ask them, how many more children need to be harmed for you to do something about this? Whose interests are you defending with this carelessness and inaction?" asked Borzan. The MEP also pointed out that research shows that children and young people are increasingly drinking energy drinks, which are harmful to them in many ways, and a large number of children claim that they drink them because they need energy, which is of enormous concern.

On top of that, the very adult trend of mixing energy drinks with alcoholic beverages is also beginning to make an appearance among younger generations. Borzan believes the fact that energy drinks are even being consumed by kids should result in a ban on selling them to minors, but given the fact that kids are also mixing them with alcohol, nobody should be in two minds about the next move.

Koncar speaks out about employing controversial former government minister Darko Horvat, saying everything was strictly above board

Koncar rather surprisingly announced the employment of the former Minister of Spatial Planning, Construction and State Property, Darko Horvat, recently. Just keep in mind that Darko Horvat had to step down from his position as a minister within Plenkovic's government because of alleged corruption.

Koncar has stressed that despite the fact that they have employed a minister who had to step down, everything was done correctly and Horvat was selected for the position thanks to his qualifications as a graduate electrical engineer.

"Owing to the recent retirement of an engineer who strategically participated in technical and commercial work related to the field of electricity distribution, a job opening was announced as we were seeking an electrical engineer with significant operational experience in that area. Mr. Horvat was selected as a graduate electrical engineer with extensive experience in the field of electricity distribution, including experience in the field of business at both the Croatian and international level.

During the initial media announcements, incorrect information was circulating claiming that Darko Horvat was set to hold the position of adviser to Koncar's Management Board. In reality, his field of activity will be focused exclusively on the field of electrical distribution, Koncar stated.

After his resignation, Horvat activated what's known as the 6+6 option.

On February the 19th, when he was first arrested, Darko Horvat resigned from his position and activated the 6+6 option, which legally prevents him from being appointed to management positions within companies with which his former ministry or government cooperated. It isn't actually prohibited under the law for him to receive a fee for providing consulting services to or within a company in which the state has a three percent ownership. Koncar is 80 percent owned by Croatia's pension funds, the head of which is HDZ member Gordan Kolak.

Economy Minister Davor Filipovic has stated that there will be no shortage of gas for the Croatian market this winter, despite talks of the opposite being the case

It seems like all we're talking about recently is the spiralling price of gas and energy, and while the Croatian Government recently came to the decision that INA would sell all the gas produced here in Croatia to HEP, it turned out that this was simply not possible. INA has seven contracts that cannot be terminated. Minister Davor Filipovic commented on the situation.

''There's going to be enough gas, and that Croatian gas is going to be provided to all hospitals, schools, kindergartens and all institutions at a price of 41 euros. The government made a decision recently that is heading in that direction,'' said the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Davor Filipovic, adding that the most important thing is that Croatian gas goes solely to Croatian institutions.

"It's known that we ordered INA to increase gas production by 10 percent. As for the change in the regulation, for seven customers there are fixed contracts that cannot be terminated unilaterally, to unilaterally terminate would be more harm than good and termination would mean those customers launching lawsuits against INA, and then INA would sue us. That's why we made that exception, and as soon as those contracts are finished, INA will be obliged to transfer all of the rest of that gas to HEP," explained Filipovic.

He noted that distributors who have experienced losses will be able to buy their gas from HEP, adding that both INA and MOL have taken a huge hit to their reputations owing to the recently exposed affair.

The Croatian Government offered teachers higher wages, but the Croatian Teachers' Union rejected their proposal for the second time

The Grand Council of the Croatian Teachers' Union unanimously rejected the Croatian Government's latest offer on wage increases which came to light on October the 18th. The new offer was deemed unacceptable because it wasn't even aimed at securing a greater increase in the base rate compared to their previous offer, but only at a different dynamic of the payment of the previously proposed increase in the base rate, the Croatian Teachers' Union announced when explaining the reasons behind their rejection.

"Increasing the amount we get for Christmas bonuses, holiday allowance and other such things can't compensate for the growth of the base rate or solve the issue of the salary lag either this year or next year. Therefore, the new offer was rejected,'' they stated.

The government initially offered the unions an increase in the salary base rate by four percent from October the 1st and two percent from April the 1st next year, but the unions refused to accept it. At the second meeting, they received a new offer, which was also binned.

Public service unions have been asking for an 8 percent increase in the base starting on October the 1st this year and another 5 percent starting on January the 1st, 2023.

Russian media discuss Croatian President Zoran Milanovic, claiming he has "admitted that NATO is partaking in the war in Ukraine" in his rejection of the idea of Croatia training Ukrainian soldiers

Recently, Milanovic stated that he isn't familiar with the idea of ​​European foreign ministers to train 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers here in Europe, but that upon hearing of it, he "doesn't support it".

"I don't support that idea because I don't support involving Croatia in this war more than it should be. It's bringing the war to Croatia. We stand in solidarity [with Ukraine] and that's as far as it should go," he said.

The Russian media were of course quick to twist Milanovic's statement and beliefs and have written extensively about how Croatian President Zoran Milanovic apparently ''opposes the training of militants". The Russian state news agency, TASS, reported his statements, and the RIA Novosti agency added that Milanovic had previously "emphasised that Russia and Croatia have become enemy states and had expressed concern about this fact." Russian Interfax writes that, according to the media, the Croatian Government had offered EU training for Ukrainian soldiers.

Regnum writes that Milanovic opposes the "training of Kyiv militants in Croatia" and that he doesn't support "any excessive interference in conflicts on the territory of the former Soviet Socialist Republic of Ukraine." Regnum also claimed that former Croatian football player and national team member Tomislav Dujmovic said around one week ago that Milanovic was ''on Russia's side'' and that he is ''observing the Russian-Ukrainian conflict more objectively than Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic is''.

Milanovic opposed the training of Ukrainian soldiers, but also the sending of weapons to Ukraine because of the danger that the Croatian Army itself would run out of weapons, MKRU writes. Milanovic would agree to send weapons to Ukraine if Croatia is compensated, they added, before the Iz.ru made the strange statement that ''Milanovic has confirmed that NATO is participating in this conflict.''

Milanovic's statements were also reported by Kommersant, which focused instead on the statement that the training of Ukrainian soldiers would represent Croatia's interference in the war in Ukraine. Ruska Gazeta wrote that, in addition to Zoran Milanovic, the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter Szijjarto also rejected the idea of Europe training Ukrainian fighters.

Transport Minister Oleg Butkovic claims that "Croatia is much more successful in comparison to some other EU member states''

On a recent episode of the radio show ''And now for the government/A sada Vlada", the Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butkovic said that the Croatian Government has successfully dealt with some major challenges over the last six years, adding that they expect the growth of the Croatian economy in 2023, as in the last year, to be higher than the EU average.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic submitted the annual report on his government's work to the Parliament, which outlined economic growth of around 6 percent and the continuation of aid measures towards both people and companies throughout these challenging and in some cases truly unprecedented times.

"A very challenging year is now behind us, last year we achieved the third highest growth in the entire European Union and due to growth of 10.2 percent, we brought two packages into force with a total value of 26 billion kuna. In order get through this energy crisis as best as possible, the government also undertook a lot. Peljesac Bridge was finally completed and put into function, and on January the 1st, 2023, we'll finally enter the Eurozone and Schengen," Oleg Butkovic said during his time on the aforementioned radio programme.

He added that these are major developments, noting that they have at their disposal a package of 25 billion euros from the National Resilience Programme and a new financial envelope.

"We're ensuring not only reforms but the continuation of investments, and this opens up possibilities for this country's economic growth to be above the EU average in 2023 as well. The situation is good," stated the minister.

"Compared to other EU countries, Croatia has been much more successful," he believes.

The topic of the construction of the Blato hospital has reared its head once again, with the Health Ministry claiming that works will begin in two years

The construction of the National Children's Hospital in Blato (Zagreb) should begin in 2024, and in the coming weeks the call for tenders for the preparation of the conceptual design will begin, the Ministry of Health announced, emphasising that it will be the first hospital in the City of Zagreb to be located south of the Sava River.

This greenfield project worth around 300 million euros will be financed from the National Plan for Recovery and Resilience and other forms of European Union (EU) funding. The new children's hospital will span an area of ​​100,000 square metres in total, and construction is planned in two phases. About 50 thousand square metres of gross area will be built in each phase.

As far as land agreements with the City of Zagreb go, in the implementation of this strategic project, the Ministry of Health and the City of Zagreb are continuously holding working meetings in order to realise the transfer of city land in Blato through partnership cooperation, with the condition of the final and complete construction of the hospital. At the last working meeting in the Ministry of Health with the City of Zagreb, property and legal issues that need to be resolved were discussed.

Given that this will be the very first Zagreb hospital to be situated south of the Sava, he realisation of the Blato hospital project represents a significant contribution to global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as all of its energy would come from renewable sources. It will also represent a big step forward in the territorial availability of healthcare services not only for the residents of the Croatian capital but also for everyone coming to Zagreb for treatment, especially from the south of the country.

''Although it seems that the road to the new Blato hospital will be a very long one, we mustn't lose sight of the fact that the idea and desire to embark on this demanding project took even longer. Despite the two-year battle with the global coronavirus pandemic and all of the other challenges that have since come to pass, the government and the Ministry of Health are taking the proper steps in order to successfully realise this strategic project for the healthcare system, which will provide the highest quality healthcare for children in Zagreb and all of Croatia,'' the Ministry of Health stated.

For more on Croatian politics, make sure to keep up with our dedicated section and our Week in Croatian politics articles which will be published every Friday.

June the 9th, 2022 - Croatian MEP Biljana Borzan has made the claim that the Croatian Government is actually lobbying against the reduction of harmful pesticides in the Belgian capital of Brussels, adding that she has been shocked by it.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Croatian Government, more precisely the Ministry of Agriculture, is allegedly directly lobbying in Brussels for the European Union (EU) to abandon the binding goals of reducing the use of chemical pesticides in food production. This is part of a letter sent on March the 16th, 2022, to the European Council, which, among others, is apparently signed by the Croatian Government.

The letter is in the possession of Croatian MEP Biljana Borzan, who, as the Eurosocialist rapporteur for the ''Field to Table'' strategy, is committed to reducing the use of chemical pesticides.

"I'm shocked and angry, on whose behalf is the Croatian Government lobbying against pesticide reduction?! On behalf of the citizens of Croatia, who are probably satisfied that bees are dying out and that traces of pesticides are ubiquitous on our food? I'd like to call on the Minister to comment on this situation and explain to the public why it isn't in their interest for food to be sprayed less with chemicals!'' MEP Biljana Borzan demanded.

The letter, allegedly signed by the Republic of Croatia and eleven other EU member states, disagrees with the bloc's overall goal of halving the use of chemical pesticides by the year 2030 through the ''Field to Table'' strategy.

In particular, they oppose the new law on the sustainable use of pesticides, which the European Commission (EC) is due to present on June the 22nd, 2022, and which Croatian MEP Biljana Borzan recently warned was in question due to fierce lobbying.

"It turns out that the Croatian Ministry of Agriculture is lobbying against environmental goals in Brussels, and at the same time, in Croatia, they're making life difficult for organic food producers by reducing subsidies and employing absurd regulations. When did we as a state decide to head in that direction? When the Parliament debated this, did the citizens vote for it? I recently conducted a public opinion poll on this topic and as many as 91 percent of respondents said they support reducing the use of pesticides, which shows that citizens' awareness of their impact on health and the environment is high,'' concluded Borzan on the matter.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated politics section.

March the 23rd, 2022 - Croatian MEP Biljana Borzan has asked quite the valid question: Why isn't the Croatian Government doing more to lobby for the Croatian label in Brussels as a new rule on food packaging is set to come into force?

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the European Union (EU) will soon introduce mandatory nutrition labels for food on packaging, and EU member states are currently vigorously lobbying for their national labels to be chosen. Croatia, quite unsurprisingly, isn't doing the same. MEP Biljana Borzan warned that Croatia is simply ignoring the existence of the "Live Healthy" label in Brussels, which, with co-financing from EU funds, was developed by the Croatian Institute of Public Health.

''Across the EU, eight labels are used on a voluntary basis, Croatia should be proud and take advantage of the fact that one of these is the Croatian "Live Healthy" label, and of course, Croatia should lobby to be elected. However, a meeting of representatives of EU member states was held on March the 11th to discuss this very topic, and according to the minutes taken, our representatives didn't even bother to mention that there is a Croatian label at all, let alone lobby for its use. The meeting was organised by Italy, which harnessed significant diplomatic resources for their so-called "Battery" label, and Croatia is indirectly supporting it with its silence, warned Biljana Borzan, who has long advocated the introduction of a single EU label.

At the end of 2022, the European Commission (EC) will propose a single label system for the entire European Union (single) market, in order to better inform the public and combat the growing problem of obesity and other such related diseases. This is part of the "From the field to the table" strategy, for which vice president Biljana Borzan is in charge on behalf of the Eurosocialists.

''More than 950,000 people died across the EU in 2017 as a result of eating an unhealthy diet, mainly from heart disease and cancer, and Croatia is worse than the average. The new labels will help customers find more nutritious products on store shelves. These new labels must be noticeable, easy to understand and based on scientific knowledge. These are the characteristics of "Live Healthy", which is well known to the Croatian food industry. Significant amounts of money from EU funds have been invested in its promotion, and the inactivity and lack of information of the representatives of the Croatian Government in Brussels is all the more inadmissible,'' Biljana Borzan believes.

The MEP added that the Eurobarometer survey showed that 82 percent of respondents in Croatia fully or mostly agree with the statement that there should be one logo that would signal that food is healthy and sustainable.

"Unfortunately, this situation reminds me of the debacle with the candidacy for the seat of the European Medicines Agency, when Croatia withdrew Zagreb's candidacy in favour of Italy. The explanation was that we didn't have a great chance and that Italy would somehow repay us, but of course, there was nothing of that to speak of. Slovakia also insisted on Bratislava's candidacy and a year later gained the seat of a new EU labour agency. The EU is a community that provides opportunities, but they don't benefit the modest, self-denying and inert, but those who fight for their slice of the cake", concluded Biljana Borzan.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 31 January 2022 - The majority of citizens are compelled to buy a new electric appliance because the cost of the repair is not worth it, according to the latest results of a survey commissioned by MEP Biljana Borzan's (S&D/SDP) office, which she presented in Europe House in Zagreb on Monday.

The majority of citizens, or 81%, bought new appliances because repairs were not worth it, 72.9% opted to buy a new appliance because it was not possible to repair the old one and 43.4% did so because repairs were not available, according to the survey conducted in November 2021 by the Hendal agency on a sample of 800 respondents.

"I consider this to be truly sad because, on the one hand, we want to protect consumers so they do not have to spend money on new appliances, and naturally considering the fact that the European Union is exceptionally green orientated, which is an absolute priority in all our laws," said Borzan, who is a member of the European Parliament's  Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection.

When buying new appliances, consumers look at the price first (90.6%), then at the expected lifespan (89.6%), guarantee duration (82.8%), availability of servicing and spare parts (80.3%), and lastly care for the environment (56%).

Citizens trust institutions the least

"When adopting laws we endeavour to build in this green, ecological part and take the environmental impact and future of the planet into consideration," she added.

"As many as 94% of citizens think that appliances should last longer, and the life span and the availability of repairs are the most important aspects to them when they are buying a new product," she said and explained that a new resolution calls for the introduction of a new feature, repairability. She said that each appliance should bear an indication of the life span of the appliance and the availability of spare parts and servicing, adding that 78% of citizens expect this, said Borzan.

When it comes to complaints, citizens have the most faith in consumer protection associations, followed by traders and manufacturers, while they have the least faith in state institutions, which only 18.4% of citizens trust.

Resolution on the right to repairs in March

Borzan believes that the resolution will be put to the vote in March, after which she expects a prompt response from the European Commission so that work on preparing the law can begin in the spring.

Borzan added that Croatia was near the bottom of the EU ranking as far as consumer protection is concerned.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 14 Sept, 2021 - A majority of members of the European Parliament on Tuesday endorsed a draft resolution seeking the recognition of same-sex marriages and registered partnerships in all member states.

The draft was endorsed by 387 MEPs, 161 voted against and 123 abstained.

The resolution says same-sex spouses and partners should be treated equally as heterosexual ones, and that marriages and partnerships concluded in one EU member state should be recognised in all.

Of the Croatian MEPs, the draft was endorsed by Biljana Borzan, Predrag Matić and Tonino Picula of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Valter Flego of the Istrian Democratic Party.

Independent Mislav Kolakušić and conservative Ladislav Ilčić were against, while Sunčana Glavak, Karlo Ressler, Tomislav Sokol and Željana Zovko of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) abstained.

Ivan Vilibor Sinčić (Human Shield) did not vote as he was in Rome, and Romana Jerković (SDP) could not because of technical difficulties, but her office told Hina that she "supports this resolution."

Speaking to Hina, Matić said the adoption of the resolution was a "civilisational achievement", while Flego said it was unacceptable that LGBTIQ rights were being reduced instead of advanced in many countries, and that it was time to "finally give everyone equal rights."

Ilčić told Hina the resolution "is consciously trying to equate the legal status of same-sex couples in all member states, thus negating the right of the states to independently decide which unions they will recognise and which they won't."

"That would mean that the whole EU must follow the most liberal states to avoid alleged discrimination, which is absurd, contrary to the treaties and the subsidiarity principle," he said, adding that the LGBT lobby was exerting enormous pressure on the European institutions.

The resolution also calls on the European Commission to take action against Romania, Hungary and Poland for violating LGBTIQ rights and fundamental EU values.

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 10 Sept 2021- Labelling products made with imported raw materials 'local' is perfidious manipulation of consumers, European Parliament member Biljana Borzan said on Friday, after her amendments for more transparent labelling of products in the EU were adopted by the competent EP committees.

The EP committees on environment, public health and food safety and on agriculture and rural development on Friday stated their position on the European Commission's proposal for the From Farm to Fork strategy and adopted amendments put forward by Borzan, a Croatian Social Democrat who is the Socialists' rapporteur on the strategy.

Borzan asked in her amendments that the system of identifying the origin of raw materials on food products in the EU be changed to include the name of the country of origin, the exact content of honey from the EU in relation to third countries, such as China, and more visible identification of the origin of primary raw materials on food products sold on the EU market.

"Producers use the fact that in each member-country, including Croatia, 70% or more citizens prefer local products to make them believe that they have bought local products," Borzan told a news conference in Zagreb.

"I am not denying producers the right to import raw materials if there is not a sufficient amount of the raw materials they need in Croatia, but consumers must be aware of that and must not be misled," she said.

The current practice is to label a product on the front of the packaging "local, Slavonian, Dalmatian, Istrian, etc." while on the back of the packaging the country of origin of the raw material other than Croatia is put in small print, she said.

If, for example, the Slavonian kulen salami is made from imported meat, that information should be clearly visible on the packaging, she said, noting that currently information on the country of origin is necessary only for products such as fresh and frozen meat, fish and eggs but not for smoked and cured meats, milk and dairy products, which are labelled only "made in the EU", which Borzan believes should be changed.

The SDP MEP thanked former Croatian MEP Ruža Tomašić for ensuring support of her political group (European Conservatives and Reformists) for her amendments, recalling also the contribution to the EP's position of Croatian MEPs Tonino Picula, Sunčana Glavak and Ivan Vilibor Sinčić.

MEP Picula's amendments to contribute to consumption of locally produced food 

Amendments by Croatian member of the European Parliament Tonino Picula to the EU's From Farm to Fork Strategy, which were adopted on Friday by the EP committees on environment, public health and food safety and on agriculture and rural development, will contribute to tourists consuming local food, which will help small family farms and rural areas in Croatia, Picula's office said after the vote on the strategy before the two EP committees.

"Protection of small local producers in the supply chain as well as consumption of local and fresh organic food is a guarantee of the long-term survival of our family farms and consequently the survival and prosperity of rural areas," Picula said.

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July the 21st, 2021 - Just how is the much talked about Croatian digital transformation actually going? While the pandemic has seen an acceleration in some respects, according to Biljana Borzan, Croatia still isn't anywhere even remotely close to where it should be.

As Novac/Iva Badanjak writes, Croatian digital transformation is something not only desperately needed here, but is one of the European Union's top priorities for the next decade.

The digital transition of society and the economy should lead to new opportunities for businesses and consumers and the development of digital competences and digital jobs. Digital technologies also have a key role to play in transforming the European economy and society to make the EU climate neutral by 2050, one of the goals agreed by Union leaders.

Various Croatian MEPs were asked to give their views and positions of the Croatian digital transformation in relation to that of other EU member states and the rest of the world.

Biljana Borzan, vice president of the Club of Progressives of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, pointed out that according to the digital index, which combines important elements related to the degree of digitalisation such as human capital, infrastructure, the digitalisation of public administration, etc., Croatia is, rather unsurprisingly, slightly below the EU average.

"However, there are big differences within the EU, and the four strongest European countries are all behind the USA in terms of digitalisation, but the EU as a whole is behind a large number of countries such as Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Australia, Israel, Japan, Canada or New Zealand,'' added the Borzan.

When asked what needs to be done in order to further encourage the Croatian digital transformation, Borzan believes that it is necessary to provide quality infrastructure across the Republic of Croatia.

"Although a large number of households in Croatia have access to the Internet, there are very big differences between urban and rural areas. In addition, Croatia has not come far in preparing for future technologies, and as far as the 5G network is concerned, only one single test has been conducted so far. The great success of local communities in attracting funds from the WiFi4EU programme for free internet in public spaces should, however, be commended,'' said Borzan, adding that special attention should be paid to strengthening the issue of digital literacy and bridging the digital divide.

"It's important that digital is an option for end users, but not the only option," it was noted.

As an opportunity for Croatia, Borzan points out the new Digital Programme, which is a 7.6 billion euro-heavy package, and can be used by small and medium-sized enterprises, and refers primarily to investment in digital technologies and infrastructure. It is also intended for investment in the development of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, the development of digital skills and through sectoral digitisation.

"I hope that Croatia will use it better than we have used the European Union funds that have been available to us so far," the MEP concluded.

For more, follow our dedicated lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 8 June, 2021 - Biljana Borzan, one of Croatia's members of the European Parliament, said on Tuesday that a motion by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to ban the sale of energy drinks to children should have been supported in 2018 because the recent death of a 13-year-old youth in Zagreb might have been avoided.

MEP Borzan, who put forward a bill to ban the sale of energy drinks to children, told a press conference that this is an exceptionally important topic, however, the ideas and proposals by the opposition were ignored at the time.

"Had our proposal to ban the sale of energy drinks to children three years ago been adopted in the Sabor, perhaps this tragedy would not have occurred. I am nauseated to be here today as a mother and a doctor," she said, expressing her condolences to the family of the deceased youth.

She added that this was the first case of death of a child connected to the consumption of an energy drink and warned that if nothing was done, it would not be the last. "There is a considerable number of cases like this one in the world. Consumption of energy drinks by children is problematic for more than one reason," said Borzan.

By consuming energy drinks, children consume large quantities of sugar, which negatively impacts obesity statistics in Croatia. The second problem is the consumption of caffeine, taurine and other problematic and suspect substances while the third problem is that children's taste changes with such extremely sweet beverages so all other food becomes insufficiently sweet for them, Borzan said. The fourth problem is that the consumption of energy drinks in combination with alcohol is becoming more and more popular among teenagers, she added.

High blood pressure, heart attack, arrhythmia, headache, nausea, vomiting, cramping, panic attacks, anxiety, stress, diabetes, addiction, allergies, insomnia, risky behaviour, are just some of the repercussions of excessive consumption of energy drinks, she explained.

She recalled that in 2018, the SDP had proposed a bill to ban the sale of energy drinks to children under the age of 18, which was rejected by the ruling majority, which initially said that the EU did not allow this, said Borzan.

That is not true as some Baltic countries have such a law in force while retail chains in some EU countries have imposed such a ban on their own, Borzan said.

The government then said that it would introduce an additional tax in an effort to deal with that problem, which it did, Borzan said, noting that a ban would be far more effective and just as it would refer only to children.

Citing data from the European Food Safety Authority, Borzan said that the situation in Croatia was concerning as 86% of 16-year-olds consume energy drinks and 47% of them combine them with alcohol.

Sixty percent of children under the age of 12 who regularly consume energy drinks said they did so because they liked the taste, Borzan said, noting that it was bizarre that 40% of them said they consumed them because they lacked energy.

In addition to a ban, it is important to educate the public so parents don't buy these drinks for their children, she said.

Referring to an announcement by the government that it plans to establish an inquiry commission for this problem, Borzan said that this was a tardy response and warned that inquiry commissions had not resulted in positive changes in the past.

For more about health in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 19 February, 2021 - SDP vice-presidents Siniša Hajdaš Dončić and Biljana Borzan on Friday announced an initiative in the European Parliament that would force multinational companies to pay taxes where they operate, stressing that the Croatian government does not want to support the initiative.

That way, the government is shifting the burden of the crisis onto citizens, they said.

According to the latest figures, 10% of the EU's total GDP is stolen, hidden or unfairly distributed, and the populist movements that call for tax cuts have at their core the wish to enable the rich in the business sector to pay less and less taxes while the entire cost of social spending is shifted onto the middle class, small and micro businesses and EU citizens, Hajdaš Dončić said at a news conference.

"The SDP considers this an unacceptable way of sharing the national wealth and the only solution is progressive taxation. The main question is how to facilitate fair tax distribution and force the richest to pay their share and participate in the crisis caused by the pandemic," he said.

He noted that tax or fiscal policies were national policies but that without coordination and a joint approach, EU countries would not be able to respond to the key problems of the last decade, including the question of why everyone was not contributing in line with their economic power.

There is also the question of why the biggest multinational corporations use tax breaks and tax havens and why some member states unfairly, through lower taxes, attract the wealthiest to start business in them.

When the amount of evaded taxes is compared, it accounts for 3 to 4% of Croatia's GDP for companies that run some business operations in Croatia. The proposal is to make a black list of those companies and to exclude them from any EU programmes, he said.

"I really do not understand why the HDZ-led government of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković is opposed to that," he said.

Difference between left and right

SDP vice-president and MEP Biljana Borzan said that an EP study showed that the EU loses 30-50 billion euros annually to tax evasion by multinational companies.

A Eurobarometer report shows 86% of EU citizens want stricter control of tax evasion and tax havens and 71% of Croatian citizens believe the problem should be solved at EU level.

A draft directive to be discussed by the European Council next Thursday is aimed at obliging big multinational companies with turnovers of more than €750 million to report for each member state how much money they make there, the value of their assets, the number of employees and the amount of taxes paid.

The directive also regulates fines that are proportional and deterring.

The health crisis brings with itself a major economic crisis, and some countries' governments can decide to shift the burden of the crisis onto citizens or they can force those who earn big profits in Europe to pay taxes, Borzan said.

She noted that the directive had been stuck at the Council for four years even though it had passed all the necessary procedures. She explained that a majority could not be achieved as some member states did not want to support the directive as they themselves are tax havens and some protected their own multinational companies.

Croatia has found itself among them even though it has no such companies, with the government explaining that a decision must be unanimous because it concerns tax policy even though the EC has explained that the directive concerns business reporting, which requires a qualified majority, Borzan said.

She noted that by the start of Croatia's EU presidency a turnaround happened and majority support was created to launch changes, "but Croatia did not put the issue on the agenda of the Council even though it could have and as EU chair should have," Borzan said, adding that at the time she sent a letter to then economy minister Darko Horvat to put the issue on agenda, but nothing happened.

"We often hear questions about the difference between the left-wing and right-wing parties today. Here is the difference - while the SDP is looking for ways to relieve the burden on citizens, the HDZ has, for reasons unclear to us, been siding with multinational companies which evade the payment of huge amounts of taxes," she said, noting that according to information available to her, the chances of the directive being passed were very big and that it would be interesting to see which position the Croatian government would take.

ZAGREB, June 20, 2019 - Croatian MEP Biljana Borzan (SDP) has been selected as one of the nine vice-chairs of the European Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group in the European Parliament. "I thank my colleagues and the new chair of the group Iratxe Garcia Perez for their support," Borzan said.

The other vice-chairs of the S&D group include Eric Andrieu (France), Miriam Dalli (Malta), Helene Fritzon (Sweden), Roberto Gualtieri (Italy), Bernd Lange (Germany), Claude Moraes (Great Britain), Kati Piri (the Netherlands) and Rovana Plumb (Romania).

"As I have until now, I will fight for Croatia to have a strong role at the table in European policies. I want the voice of our citizens to be heard when European decisions are made which impact their lives. There must not be big and small, significant and insignificant (countries)," Borzan said.

Earlier this month, Dubravka Šuica (HDZ) was selected as one of the ten vice-chairs of the European People's Party (EPP) group.

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