| Croatia |
This article is part of the series: |
|
|
|
Constitution
Judiciary
Divisions
|
|
Other countries · Atlas |
The Government of the Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Vlada Republike Hrvatske), commonly abbreviated to Croatian Government (Croatian: Hrvatska Vlada), is the main element of the executive branch of government in Croatia. It is led by the President of the Government (Croatian: Predsjednik Vlade), commonly abbreviated to premier (Croatian: premijer). Prime Minister is nominated by the President of the Republic among those who enjoy the support of majority of the Croatian Parliament, and chosen by the Parliament. There are 21 other members of the government, serving as deputy prime ministers of the government, government ministers or both—nominated by the Prime Minister and approved by the Parliament. The Government of the Republic of Croatia exercises its executive powers in conformity with the Croatian Constitution and legislation enacted by the Croatian Parliament. The current government is led by prime minister Zoran Milanović.
Following the Croatian–Hungarian Settlement of 1868, Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia and the Government of the Land (Croatian: Zemaljska Vlada), headed by crown-appointed Ban were established. The government existed until breakup of Austria-Hungary and creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918. In 1939, Banovina of Croatia was established and a head of the Banovina of Croatia was appointed, but no effective government was formed before the World War II. In 1943, the ZAVNOH established an executive board to act as a new government. Croatia, while a part of the Yugoslavia, had its government, with limited powers as all the previous forms of government. Following the first multi-party elections and adoption of the present Constitution of Croatia in 1990, the present form of government was adopted and Stjepan Mesić became the first person to hold title of the Prime Minister of Croatia, while Franjo Gregurić was the first prime minister of independent Croatia. Since collapse of Communism, the Republic of Croatia had a total of 11 governments headed by eight different prime ministers. Eight governments were formed by the Croatian Democratic Union, two by the Social Democratic Party of Croatia and one was a national unity government, formed during the peak of the Croatian War of Independence.
Contents |
The term Government of Croatia can have a number of different meanings. At its widest, it can refer collectively to the three traditional branches of government—the Executive branch, Legislative branch (the Parliament of Croatia) and Judicial branch (the Judiciary of Croatia) as well as other forms of government and civil services which are part of the Politics of Croatia. The term is also used by the government itself, the press and colloquially to mean the executive branch alone, as the branch of the government is responsible for day-to-day governance of the nation—this is the sense intended when it is said that a political party forms the Government.[1][2][3][4]
The Government (Croatian: Vlada) of Croatia, the main executive power of the Croatian state, is headed by the prime minister, who has five deputies, four of whom also serve as government ministers and 16 other ministers, appointed by the prime minister with the consent of the Sabor, in charge of particular sectors of activity. The executive branch is responsible for proposing legislation and a budget, executing the laws, and guiding the foreign and internal policies of the republic. Government's official residence is at Banski dvori in Zagreb.[5] Even though the cabinet normally meets at Banski dvori, occasionally the meetings are held elsewhere in the country.[6]
The Government of the Republic of Croatia exercises its executive powers in conformity with the Croatian Constitution and legislation enacted by the Croatian Parliament—Sabor (Croatian: Hrvatski Sabor). Its structure, operational procedures and decision-making processes are defined by the Government of the Republic of Croatia Act and the Government Rules of Procedure. The Constitution mandates that the Government proposes legislation and other documents to the parliament, proposes the budget and financial reports, implements Acts and other decisions of the parliament, enacts regulations required to implement the Acts, defines foreign and internal policies, directs and oversees operation of state administration, oversees economic development of the country, directs activities and development of public services and performs other activities conforming to provisions of the Constitution and applicable legislation. The Government also passes regulations, administrative acts and orders on appointments and relief of appointed officials and civil servants within scope of its powers. The Government makes rulings in cases of conflicts of jurisdiction between government institutions, responds to parliamentary representatives' questions, prepares proposals of new legislation and other regulations, gives opinions on legislation and other regulations and adopts strategies of economic and social development of the country.[7][8]
The Government manages property of the Republic of Croatia unless special legislation provides otherwise. Also, it may appoint special committees to manage the property on its behalf. The process is implemented through appointed members of supervisory boards and managing boards of companies partially or wholly owned by the Republic of Croatia, and determines their salaries. The Government maintains specialized bodies, agencies and offices, including the Legislation Office, the Public Relations Office and the Office for National Minorities which are required by the Government Act of 1998, as well as committees to decide administrative matters. Various branches of government may establish joint services.[7] There are further entities established by the government as companies designed to support aims of the Government, such as the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development whose goal is to fund reconstruction and development of the economy of Croatia.[9] Local government is separate from the central government, latter maintains a State Administration Office in each county, subordinated to the Ministry of Administration.[10]
The Government is responsible to the Croatian Parliament, and the parliament may recall the Government as a whole or any members of the Government following a request for a confidence vote by one fifth of the parliament members or the prime minister, by a simple majority vote. The Prime Minister and the members of the Government are jointly responsible for decisions passed by the Government and individually responsible for their respective portfolios. Pursuant to a vote of confidence by the Croatian Parliament for the Government of the Republic of Croatia, the President of the Republic appoints the Prime Minister, and the appointment is counter-signed by the Speaker of the parliament. Appointments of members of the Government are issued by the Prime Minister and counter-signed by the Speaker of the parliament. The rules of procedure and regulations enacted by the Government must be published in Narodne Novine—the official gazette of Croatia.[7][8]
| Offices of the Government of Croatia[11] | |
|---|---|
| Name | Responsibilities |
| Office of the President of the Government of the Republic of Croatia | Advisory, analytical and administrative services to the prime minister[12] |
| Legislation Office | Furnishing opinions on compliance of proposed legislation with the constitution |
| Public Relations Office | Informing the public about activities of the Government |
| Office for Protocol | Organisational and technical tasks required by the Government or the President of Croatia |
| General Administration Office of the Croatian Government and Parliament | Administrative, analytical, financial and other tasks required by the Government or the Parliament of Croatia |
| Office for National Minorities | Implementation of national minority rights policies |
| Office for Cooperation with NGOs | Cooperation with NGOs |
| Office for Human Rights | Development, implementation and monitoring of human rights protection and promotion systems |
| Office for Internal Supervision | Internal audit service for Government bodies and offices and other entities financed through the budget |
| Office for Social Partnership | Supervising, coordination and reporting on social partnership activities at national and local levels |
| Office for Prevention of Drugs Abuse | Performs activities defined by the Intoxicating Drugs Abuse Act |
| Office for Gender Equality | Performance of activities related to administrative tasks regarding gender equality in the Republic of Croatia |
| Public Procurement Office | Public procurement for the central Government |
| Central State Offices[13] | |
|---|---|
| Name | Responsibilities |
| Central State Administrative Office for e-Croatia | Development of information technology society and eGovernment services[14] |
| Central State Administrative Office for the Development Strategy and EU Fund Coordination | Development Strategy of the Republic of Croatia related expert and administrative services and monitoring[15] |
| State Administration Bodies[16] | |
|---|---|
| Name | Responsibilities |
| Central Bureau of Statistics | Statistical surveys and statistical data publication[17] |
| State Office for Radiological and Nuclear Safety | Radiological and nuclear safety[18] |
| State Office for Metrology | Metrological administrative services, testing and supervision[19] |
| State Intellectual Property Office | Protection of intellectual property rights[20] |
| State Inspector’s Office | Inspection of implementation of legislation and regulations[21] |
| Meteorological and Hydrological Service | Meteorological and hydrological services[22] |
| National Protection and Rescue Directorate | Search and rescue, emergency response service[23] |
| State Geodetic Directorate | Geodetic survey, mapmaking, cadastral and photogrammetric services[24] |
| Public Sector Bodies[25] | |
|---|---|
| Name | Responsibilities |
| State Property Management Agency (AUDIO) | State property management[26] |
| State Institute for Nature Protection | Expert services pertaining to nature protection[27] |
| Central Depository & Clearing Company | Management of the central depository of securities, clearing system and transaction settlement[28] |
| Central Finance and Contracting Agency | Budgeting, tendering, contracting, payments, accounting and financial reporting pertaining to procurement in context of the decentralised EU funded programmes[29] |
| Central Registry of Insured Persons (REGOS) | Pension insurance technical support[30] |
| Croatian Institute for Health Insurance | Healthcare insurance[31] |
| Croatian Employment Service | Employment mediation, vocational guidance, unemployment benefits, training[32] |
| Croatian Standards Institute | National standards body, promotion of safety and quality of products, services and processes[33] |
| Croatian Pension Insurance Institute | Pension insurance fund[34] |
| Hydrographic Institute of the Republic of Croatia | Safety of navigation in area of hydrographic services, development of maritime economy[35] |
| Croatian Geodetic Institute | Planning and performance of the basic geodetic services, research and development, quality control, expert assistance in area of geodetic services, maintains a geographic name database[36] |
| Croatian Mine Action Centre | Demining surveys and planning, cleared area acceptance, mined area marking, quality assurance, demining research and development, victim assistance[37] |
| Croatian Information Documentation Referral Agency (HIDRA) | Information, documentation and referral services[38] |
| Croatian Accreditation Agency | National accreditation service[39] |
| Croatian Academic and Research Network (CARNet) | Internet services, promotion of information society development, education[40] |
| Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (HANFA) | Maintenance of financial system stability, supervision of legality of trade transactions[41] |
| Croatian Agency for Small Business (HAMAG) | Developing the Economy of Croatia, support of the small and medium enterprises, guarantees for entrepreneurial credits, education and development of an advisory service[42] |
| Fund for the Compensation of Expropriated Property | Compensation of property expropriated during the Communist rule[43] |
| Financial Agency (FINA) | Financial mediation, financial administrative services[44] |
| State Audit Office | Auditing the state and local government unit budgets and their users other entities with majority government ownership[45] |
| State Agency for Deposit Insurance and Bank Rehabilitation | Bank deposit insurance[46] |
| Human Rights Centre | Human rights related public events, education, volunteer programmes and implementation of human rights projects[47] |
| Croatian Competition Agency | Antitrust and merger control, monitoring of competition pertaining to implementation and recovery of agricultural and fisheries related aid[48] |
| Personal Data Protection Agency | Supervision of personal data protection, reporting personal data protection status recorded in the country and abroad, maintenance of the central register of the personal data[49] |
| Croatian Environment Agency | Collection, integration and processing of environmental data, promotion of sustainable development[50] |
| Agency for Transactions and Mediation in Immovable Properties | Purchase and trading of real-estate in the country, except where legislation defines authority of another body, subsidized real-estate development[51] |
Government meetings are public, however the government itself may decide to close any part of its sessions or entire sessions to the public. The prime minister may authorise any deputy to represent the PM, and to take over any portion of tasks otherwise assigned to the prime minister. The government sessions are valid if attended by majority of the government members and decisions are reached by vote of simple majority. Exceptionally, a two-thirds majority vote is required to make decisions regarding changes of the constitution of the Republic of Croatia, association with other states, changes of borders of the country, dissolution of the parliament, calling a referendum.[7]
The prime minister and the PM deputies represent the core cabinet, which monitors and discusses operation of the government and may hold preliminary discussions on any matter performed by the government. The core cabinet may act as the government in emergencies when the government is unable to meet, however its decisions need be verified at the next government session to remain in force. Government secretary coordinates agencies, offices and other services subordinated to the government.[7]
Since 23 December 2011, the prime minister of the government has been Zoran Milanović.[52] The first Deputy Prime Minister is Radimir Čačić, and others are Neven Mimica, Branko Grčić, and Milanka Opačić. Government ministers are from the Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP), and the Croatian People's Party - Liberal Democrats (HNS) and Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS).[53]
| Position | Portfolio | Name | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime Minister | Zoran Milanović | SDP | ||
| Deputy Prime Minister | Economy | Radimir Čačić | HNS | |
| Deputy Prime Minister | Internal, Foreign and European policy | Neven Mimica | SDP | |
| Deputy Prime Minister | Regional development and EU funds | Branko Grčić | SDP | |
| Deputy Prime Minister | Social welfare policy and youth | Milanka Opačić | SDP | |
| Minister | Foreign Affairs | Vesna Pusić | HNS | |
| Minister | Finance | Slavko Linić | SDP | |
| Minister | Interior | Ranko Ostojić | SDP | |
| Minister | Public Administration | Arsen Bauk | SDP | |
| Minister | Agriculture | Tihomir Jakovina | SDP | |
| Minister | Sea, Transport and Infrastructure | Zlatko Komadina | SDP | |
| Minister | Labour and pension system | Mirando Mrsić | SDP | |
| Minister | Health | Rajko Ostojić | SDP | |
| Minister | Environment and Nature Protection | Mirela Holy | SDP | |
| Minister | Science, Education and Sports | Željko Jovanović | SDP | |
| Minister | Defence | Ante Kotromanović | SDP | |
| Minister | Entrepreneurship and Crafts | Gordan Maras | SDP | |
| Minister | Croatian Veterans | Predrag Matić | SDP | |
| Minister | Justice | Orsat Miljenić | SDP | |
| Minister | Tourism | Veljko Ostojić | IDS | |
| Minister | Construction and Spatial Planning | Ivan Vrdoljak | HNS | |
| Minister | Culture | Andrea Zlatar | HNS | |
| Source: Government of Croatia[54][52] | ||||
The first executive council in Croatia dates to 1848, when the Ban's Council (Croatian: Bansko Vijeće) acted as an administrative body governing Croatia within the Austrian Empire as a provisional government while the council existed, until 1850.[55] Following the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and the subsequent Croatian–Hungarian Settlement of 1868, Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia was established along with the Government of the Land (Croatian: Zemaljska Vlada), headed by crown-appointed Ban. The establishment was carried out during appointment of Ban Levin Rauch.[56][57] Authority of the government continued until breakup of Austria-Hungary and creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918. In total, 15 Bans acted as head of the government in the period.[58] Cvetković–Maček Agreement was made in 1939, and it established the Banovina of Croatia and appointed Ivan Šubašić as Ban to head the Croatian government.[59] Still, an effective government was not formed before onset of the World War II.[60] In June 1943, the National Anti-Fascist Council of the People's Liberation of Croatia established an 11-member executive board to act as new government of Croatia.[61] Communist-ruled Croatia, a part of the Yugoslavia, maintained its own government, of similarly limited powers to all preceding forms of government since the 19th century. The government was appointed by and responsible to the Sabor. During the Communist era, there were 14 governments of Croatia. The official name of the government was Executive Council of the Sabor (Croatian: Izvršno vijeće Sabora).[62] Following the parliamentary elections and adoption of the present Constitution of Croatia in 1990, the present form of government was adopted. On 30 May 1990, Stjepan Mesić became the first person to hold title of the Prime Minister of Croatia, and Franjo Gregurić was the first prime minister of independent Croatia, as he held the office on 8 October 1991 when the declaration of independence came into effect.[63][64]
Since 30 May 1990, and the first multi-party parliamentary election held following the 45-year Communist rule, the Republic of Croatia had a total of 11 governments headed by eight different prime ministers. Prime minister in the first government government after the first multi-party election was Stjepan Mesić, who would later go on to become the President of Croatia. That government was formed by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), as were seven other governments of Croatia. Two governments were formed by the Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP) and one was a national unity government, representing a wide coalition of political parties, formed during the peak of the Croatian War of Independence, between July 1991 and August 1992, with Franjo Gregurić as the prime minister.[63]
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||||