The ministry explained in a press release why it had not sent the report to the European Commission.
The Centre for Monitoring Operations in the Energy Sector and Investments was the national coordinating body for energy efficiency until it was dissolved in 2018 and it was obliged to prepare the annual report on progress towards meeting the national objectives to increase energy efficiency.
"With its dissolution in 2018, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy took over the duties of the national coordinating body for energy efficiency and became responsible for the annual report. However, the Ministry inherited a non-functional database from the Centre and a significant number of staff who were responsible for that task did not remain in the Ministry," the press release said.
Last year a tender was advertised to reinstate the computer system which began operating mid-2019. However, due to the large number of projects, they have not all been entered yet.
"The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy has notified the EC and very soon it will present verified data for the 2018 annual report and after that for the 2019 report," the ministry said.
The European Commission on Wednesday opened an infringement procedure and sent Croatia a letter of formal notice for failing to comply with the obligation to submit a report on progress towards meeting its national energy efficiency targets until 30 April 2019.