April the 22nd, 2023 - Croatian OECD entry could occur in the year 2025 at the very earliest, but important reforms must take place and the country must deal with its endemic problems surrounding nepotism and corruption.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Ana Blaskovic writes, six full years after sending the letter of intent and one year since the opening of negotiations with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Croatia could be admitted in 2025 at the earliest, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said at the recently held conference "Croatia on the way to OECD: What does membership bring?"

For the head of the government, joining the prestigious club of 38 countries, of which 22 are EU members, is the third (remaining) strategic foreign policy goal after joining the Eurozone and the Schengen area.

State companies and banks

Unlike the situation with Eurozone accession, the Croatian OECD entry process has no deadline set, and the green light depends on the rigorous evaluation of more than 20 technical committees that assess whether the candidate country, in this case Croatia, has fulfilled the reforms and aligned itself with all of the rather stringent OECD standards, policies and practices. With this in mind, it isn't remotely surprising that the Prime Minister "retained some flexibility" regarding the entry date.

"Through the guidelines and programmes of the OECD, there will be an improvement in all those segments of Croatian society that we've already brought to a very high level with EU membership, and with OECD membership, we're going to be making it even better," Plenkovic believes. Next week, he announced, the government will revise the forecasts of GDP growth this year to 2 percent, but also announce a drop in the share of public debt in GDP to 68.4 percent and last year's budget surplus to 0.4 percent.

What the prime minister sees as a special added value, a system that will improve the corporate management of companies in (co)ownership of the state, is also one of the biggest obstacles facing Croatia at this moment in time. There is considerable apparent resentment for the fact that state-owned companies are very open to political infiltration, the serial production of corruption scandals and operate inefficiently.

Earlier, it was clearly stated that, although not mandatory, the recommendations on the centralisation of state ownership, the professionalisation of management and the tidying up of the regulatory framework, represent ''aqis'' for Croatian OECD entry.

"Through the accession process, Croatia will implement numerous reforms in the field of public administration, healthcare, trade, education, agriculture, transport and the management of state-owned companies,'' assured Goran Grlic-Radman.

OECD Secretary General Matthias Cormann said that Croatian OECD accession will be a positive transformative journey as it will lead to a rise in standards and bringing income and productivity closer to the OECD average. "These aren't just formalities but will provide tangible benefits to Croatia's residents," said Cormann during his very recent visit to Zagreb.

Government proposals coming soon

In the panel discussion that followed, Finance Minister Marko Primorac asserted that the Ministry of Finance is participating in the work of nine committees, and out of five OECD questionnaires, four have been completed. He announced that he will soon come out with proposals aimed at ownership policies, portfolio management, the equalisation of salaries, as well as certain "steps in the depoliticisation of Supervisory Boards and Management Boards".

"It's certain that Croatia's membership in the OECD and the reforms which need to be carried out in order to make that happen will further contribute to easing the business environment and creating a more productive, competitive and profitable Croatia," stated HUP (Croatian Employers' Association) director Irena Weber.

''For Croatia, the benefits of OECD membership include support for reforms through the sharing of best practices, participation in global debates and support for G7 and G20 policies. All of this increases the confidence of investors, often also the credit rating,'' said Gita Kothari, Deputy Director of the Directorate for Legal Affairs of the OECD.

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ZAGREB, 8 July 2022 - Croatia has officially started negotiations on joining the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said on Friday.

"I wish to announce that at the meeting with Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Deputy Secretary-General Ulrik Vestergaard Knudsen, we officially started the negotiations," said Grlić Radman, who participated in the meeting between Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Knudsen in Government House.

"This is a historic moment for us today... after joining the Schengen Area, after joining the euro area, this will really be the 'icing on the cake," he said addressing the media.

Knudsen agreed with him that this is a historic moment and said that Croatia is doing this in order to create a better life for its citizens.

At the final meeting of the Council of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development at the ministerial level held on 10 June OECD member states adopted the Accession Plan for Croatia.

ZAGREB, 20 April 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Wednesday a request for the pardon of Josip Perković and Zdravko Mustač was an "orchestrated action" which had caused rifts among the generals, war veterans and "the Croatians in general."

"Croatia has seen many orchestrated actions, this is one of them," he said in parliament during Question Time.

Plenković recalled that President Zoran Milanović had said in his presidential campaign that he would not use the institute of pardon and that he had not responded to any of the 275 pardon requests forwarded by the Justice Ministry.

Plenković said the government had no authority over the pardon requests for Perković and Mustač, former Yugoslav and Croatian intelligence officials. He said his HDZ party was against pardoning them.

"This is a big weakness of the one who had to submit the request, that's the legal representative or the family, and perhaps mostly the weakness of the one who has been silent all the time and waiting to see what we will all say about it, that the one who, under the Constitution, is the only one authorised to grant pardons," Plenković said, alluding to the president.

Commenting on MP Hrvoje Zekanović's remark that Milanović was "the spokesman for the Kremlin," Plenković said the Russian invasion of Ukraine began 56 days ago and that he sent a letter to Milanović on 24 February, requesting a session of the National Security Council.

"There has been no answer", he said. "Croatia is the only EU member state whose National Security Council has not met since the aggression began".

OECD accession

Responding to HDZ MP Gari Cappelli's question about Croatia's bid to join the (OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said it was one of the strategic priorities alongside joining the Schengen and euro areas.

"Joining the OECD would mean a lot for Croatia, first and foremost for national reform, for improving the investment climate and corporate management of state-owned companies, and for the fight against corruption in international business transactions".

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 26 Jan 2022 - The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said on Tuesday it had opened accession discussions with Croatia, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Romania, and Bulgaria.

"There is no deadline for completion of the accession processes. The outcome and timeline depend on each candidate country’s capacity to adapt and adjust to align with the Organisation’s standards and best practices," the OECD said.

The process will include an in-depth evaluation by more than 20 technical committees of the candidates' alignment with OECD standards, policies, and practices.

"Croatia is ready to start OECD membership negotiations. Besides the Schengen Area and eurozone, our priority is OECD membership whereby we will strengthen our economy and Croatia's international standing and influence," Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Twitter.

The OECD's main values are individual liberty, democracy, the rule of law, the protection of human rights, and open, trading, competitive, sustainable and transparent market economies. The OECD also promotes sustainable and inclusive economic growth and climate change.

OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann pointed out that "candidate countries will be able to use the accession process to promote further reforms for the benefit of their people, while also strengthening the OECD as a like-minded community committed to a rules-based international order."

The technical reviews will focus on open trade and investment, public governance, anti-corruption efforts, and the effective protection of the environment and climate.

Once all the technical committees have completed their reviews, a final decision will be taken by unanimity of all OECD member countries.

For more, check out our dedicated politics section.