Sixty reforms planned in four main areas.
On today’s session, the government adopted the National Reform Programme, which includes 60 reforms divided into four main areas, that will be sent to the European Commission by the end of the month. Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković said that the programme contained fair and necessary measures, reports Index.hr on April 28, 2016.
Orešković asked the citizens to support the reforms that were necessary because Croatia had to change the way it did business. The sixty reform measures are divided into four areas – macroeconomic stability and fiscal sustainability; facilitating business conditions and better investment climate; efficiency and transparency of the public sector; and better education for the labour market.
The main goal is economic growth and job creation during the next 18 months, said the Prime Minister. “This document outlines the government policy for the next 18 months and Croatian citizens will evaluate us according to this document”, he said and warned that the European Commission estimated that the growth would be less than one percent if the reforms were not implemented. Macroeconomic stability and fiscal sustainability include reduction of public debt, said the Prime Minister, reiterating that it was the key goal, in addition to economic growth.
The programme of government reforms also focuses on public companies, which are responsible for one half of the public debt. In the pension system, the government will raise the retirement age from 65 to 67 years, staring from 2028. Also, early retirements will be penalized more than before.
In the healthcare system, the price of supplementary health insurance will be increased, and there will be reforms of the hospital system through linking of hospitals, changes in emergency medicine services and rationalization of non-medical services in hospitals.
The announced public administration reforms should include a new payroll system, one collective agreement for civil and public servants, abolition of 13 agencies, strengthening of the e-Citizen system and the introduction of the e-Business system.
Business fees will be further cut, by about 300 million kuna a year, in order to reduce the burden on the economy and improve the entrepreneurial climate. Entrepreneurs should also be helped with the reform of the land registry system, and in particular with the merging of land registry and cadastre, which is expected in the second half of this year and is one of the prerequisites for property taxes to be introduced in the coming years. The full implementation of property taxes is planned for 2020.
