ZAGREB, 2 Dec 2021 - Conflict of Interest Commission chair Nataša Novaković said on Thursday she would be surprised if GRECO, the Council of Europe's anti-corruption body, gave a positive assessment of the conflict of interest bill currently in the first reading in parliament.

Speaking to the press, Novaković said she would be surprised because the bill did not show that Croatia had acted on GRECO's recommendations.

"Those who know how to read GRECO's report and the bill think it's quite clear that the essential recommendations haven't been complied with. Whether they have or not, we'll see when we get the report."

Novaković said that as far as she knew, GRECO was expected to assess if Croatia's new conflict of interest bill was in line with its recommendations today, and the assessment would be forwarded to the Conflict of Interest Commission.

"The bill is between two readings and it would be a bad message if later on, we were to receive a message from GRECO that the law we passed in the meantime is bad."

Novaković was speaking after a meeting of the National Council monitoring the implementation of the Corruption Prevention Strategy, whose chair Nikola Grmoja said GRECO insisted on principles of conduct and that the bill was a big step backward.

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ZAGREB, June 4, 2020 - Croatia has fulfilled only one out of the three recommendations made by GRECO, the Council of Europe anti-corruption body, concerning parliamentary deputies, and together with Hungary, Poland and Austria, Zagreb is one of the underperformers in this category, the Vecernji List daily wrote on Thursday.

Of 42 Council of Europe member-states covered by recommendations, the above-mentioned four countries have the poorest outcome in meeting the recommendations made in a bid to curb corruption among parliamentarians, the Vecernji List says in the article headlined, "Croatia fails to abide by anti-corruption recommendations for MPs".

GRECO, headed by Croatian judge Marin Mrcela, who is the Croatian Supreme Court's vice-president, has recommended the adoption of a code of conduct for MPs, however, Zagreb has not yet done that.

The code of conduct is supposed to provide guidelines for the conduct of lawmakers during their meetings with lobbyists or anyone advocating their cause. The document should also specify what MPs can accept as gifts and so on. A deadline that Croatia has set on itself to adopt the code expired in late 2015. The deadline was specified in the 2015-2020 strategy for the fight against corruption.

GRECO has in the meantime proposed new recommendations, including the adoption of a code of conduct for top state office-holders.

GRECO has already recommended the strengthening of the role of the Conflict of Interest Commission.