The Commission discussed benchmarks for the closing of the policy chapter No. 23 - Judiciary and Fundamental Rights - which refer to the prevention of corruption, as well as IPA 2007 projects designed to promote the fight against corruption, guidelines for the application of rules on consultation with interested members of the public in the adoption of laws and other regulations, and a survey of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.
PM Kosor said this was the first time that Croatia had all policy chapters opened in its EU entry talks and that it had received benchmarks for their closing.
The Commission decided that each department should appoint a person in charge of coordinating the fulfilment of the benchmarks and a person directly in charge of their fulfilment, the statement said, adding that every department should define a road map for the fulfilment of the benchmarks and report regularly to the Commission on the progress made.
The government's public relations office recalls in the statement that work on implementing two projects from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) 2007 programme began in March and April. The purpose of the projects is to strengthen institutions working on the prevention of corruption and inter-generational cooperation in the fight against corruption.
The beneficiaries of the two projects, which consist of twinning components and agreements on the provision of services and procurement of equipment, are the Justice Ministry and the anti-corruption agency USKOK.
The Commission also supported the implementation of rules on consultation with interested members of the public in the adoption of laws and other regulations and of guidelines for the enforcement of the said rules.
The Commission also took note of a survey of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime on corruption and other forms of crime, which is being conducted in Croatia by the Zagreb Institute of Economics.