Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has underlined increased exports, lower unemployment and the sale of INA oil company shares on the stock market as the more important results on the economic front.
This year the government also sold the remaining state-owned shares in the pharmaceutical company Pliva and completed the first stage of a project to build a national gas supply system with the construction of the gas pipeline Pula-Karlovac.
The third year of the government's term was also marked by an amendment to a decision on the Protected Ecological and Fisheries Zone (EFPZ) under which the EFPZ will apply also to EU countries as of January 1, 2008, at the latest. Despite intensive talks aimed at adopting this decision by consensus, the parliament adopted the government's proposal by a majority vote.
Relations with international financial institutions were marked by a new stage in relations with the IMF and, following the conclusion of the stand-by arrangement in mid-November, by the continuation of cooperation based on regular consultations within Article IV of the IMF Statute, after Croatia had been given the same credit rating for five years. The credit rating agency Dun & Bradstreet this year improved Croatia's rating three times, and Croatia will complete this year with the credit rating DB3d, which puts it for the first time among countries with moderate investment risk.
This year Croatia opened five policy chapters in negotiations with the EU, of which two were also provisionally closed (on Science and Research and on Education and Culture).
Participants in the NATO summit in Riga in late November announced that Croatia could expect an invitation to join NATO in spring 2008. In the second half of December, Croatia and eight other Southeast European countries and the UN Mission in Kosovo signed a new Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA).
Relations with the Hague war crimes tribunal were marked by the government's request to be given the status of an amicus curiae (friend of the court) in the case Gotovina, Cermak and Markac and the case Prlic and others, but the request was turned down by the tribunal's trial chambers as well as the Appeals Chamber.
This year also saw several scandals such as the Verona case or the Brodosplit case, and one coalition partner, the Democratic Centre (DC), left the government. DC leader Vesna Skare Ozbolt was replaced as Justice Minister in February, and Ana Lovrin of the ruling HDZ party was appointed to the post.
Statistics show that the government held some 70 sessions, of which five outside Zagreb - in Bjelovar, Zadar, Koprivnica, Sisak and Porec. For the first time in its history, the government held a session in another country - in January it held a joint session with the Hungarian government in Budapest.
The Prime Minister and his ministers discussed more than 1,600 items at government sessions, adopted some 2,100 regulations, and considered some 120 strategic documents.
Government members answered 131 questions put to them in the parliament and the parliament adopted 90 government-sponsored laws. The government sent to parliament 34 bills related to the adjustment of the national legislation to that of the EU, of which 26 were adopted and seven are still under discussion.
The government of PM Ivo Sanader enters the election year 2007 with a grade of 3.32, by which business people evaluated its performance. Sanader was named politician of the year by reporters, editors and managers of the most important media companies in Croatia.
Regular parliamentary elections have been announced for November 2007.