BUDGET TRANSPARENCY IN THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA Zagreb, 2 December 2015

Budget Transparency – Budget Act Transparency principle at the budgetary level introduced pursuant to 2003 Budget Act (Official Gazette, No. 96/03) Article 4, paragraph 2.: “Budget preparation and execution is based on the principle of legality, efficiency, cost-effectiveness and transparency.” More precise definition regulated under 2008 Budget Act (Official Gazette, No. 87/08, 136/12 and 15/15) BUDGETARY PRINCIPLES - Article 4: “The budget shall be adopted and executed in compliance with the principles of budget unity and accuracy, annuality, equilibrium, unit of account, universality, specification, sound financial management and transparency.” PRINCIPLE OF TRANSPARENCY – Article 12: “The budget shall be adopted and executed in accordance with the principle of transparency.”

Budget transparency – Budget Act In “Official Gazette” – official journal of the Republic of Croatia and official journal of local and regional self-government units (LRSGUs): Budget and budget projection, Budget amendments, Decision on interim financing, General and specific parts of semi-annual and annual budget execution report and General and specific parts of semi-annual and annual financial plan execution reports by extra-budgetary users In addition: State budget and budget projection proposal adopted by the Government of the RC (prior to adoption by the Croatian Parliament) is published on the websites of the Government of the RC and Ministry of Finance. In addition: Budgetary Funds Allocation Decisions taken by the Government of the RC are published in the Official Gazette. In addition: Financial Plans of budgetary and extra-budgetary users are published on the websites of users. C-TRANSPARENTNOST JAVNIH POLITIKA, PROCES DONOŠENJA ODLUKA ZAKONODAVNE VLASTI, RADA JAVNE UPRAVE, IZBORA I REFERENDUMA TE MEDIJA 4. FISKALNA TRANSPARENTNOST 4.1. AKTIVNOST PRAVOVREMENO OBJAVLJIVATI PRIJEDLOG DRŽAVNOG PRORAČUNA Uzimajući u obzir dostupnost i sadržaj dokumenata koji prate proračunske procese načelo transparentnosti primjenjuje se u svim proračunskim procesima: pripreme proračuna, izvršavanja proračuna, zaduživanja, izvještavanja uključujući i Izvješće o obavljenoj reviziji Godišnjeg izvještaja o izvršenju Državnog proračuna Republike Hrvatske

Budget transparency – Budget Act The website of the Government of the Republic of Croatia (https://vlada.gov.hr/financijski-dokumenti/14811), that is the websites of LRSGUs includes: Semi-annual and annual budget execution report and Semi-annual and annual financial plan execution report by extra-budgetary users Financijski dokumenti Dokumenti: Državni proračun

Budget transparency In addition: Integrated semi-annual and annual state budget execution report and Semi-annual and annual financial plan execution report by extra- budgetary users of the state budget are published on the website of the Ministry of Finance (http://www.mfin.hr/hr/proracun).

Budget transparency – Budget Act Annual financial statements published on the websites of budgetary and extra-budgetary users and LRSGUs No later than within eight days from the date of their submission (since 2015) Annual financial statements of those without own website are published on the website of the competent class of the organisational state budget classification, that is competent local and regional self-government unit, within eight days from their submission.

Budget transparency Fiscal Responsibility Act – 2011 – determines the rules limiting government spending, strengthening responsibility for legal, earmarked and purposeful spending of budget resources and reinforcing the system of controls and supervision for the purpose of ensuring fiscal responsibility. The objective of the Act shall be to ensure and maintain fiscal responsibility, transparency and medium- and long-term sustainability of public finance – establishment and strengthening of fiscal rules (semi-annual and annual Fiscal Rules Application Report). Right to Access Information Act – 2013 (2015) regulates the right to access information and reuse information held by the public authority body, the principles, restrictions and the procedure of exercising and facilitating the access to and reuse of information. The objective of the Act is to ensure and provide exercising of the right to access information, as well as to reuse information, as granted by the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, to natural persons and legal entities, through openness and publicity of action taken by public authority bodies. Internet – the most important method of communication with the public(www.mfin.hr) zašto je otvorenost proračuna tako važna? Transparentniji proračun i proračunski procesi omogućuju građanima da zahtijevaju veću odgovornost vlasti, pa se može očekivati bolje upravljanje, donošenje i izvršavanje kvalitetnijih proračuna i pružanje efikasnijih javnih usluga. Proračunska je transparentnost usko povezana i s mogućnošću zemlje da ostvari viši kreditni rejting i privuče više ulagača, poboljša fiskalnu disciplinu te smanji deficit i dug, poveća efikasnost javnih rashoda i smanji korupciju, te bolje uskladi postojeća sredstva s postojećim potrebama.

Ministry of Finance website screenshot

Publication on the Ministry of Finance website Example: 2014 Annual State Budget Execution Report Semi-annual and annual budget execution report and semi-annual and annual financial plan execution report by extra-budgetary users are published on the websites of the Government of the RC and Ministry of Finance.

State Audit Office Example: Audit Report on 2014 Annual Republic of Croatia State Budget Execution Report Audit Report on 2014 Annual RC State Budget Execution Report

Monthly state budget execution monitoring Timely publication of monthly state budget execution reports in compliance with national methodology of budget accounting plan and in accordance with GFS 2001 methodology Monthly state budget execution report for most important categories of revenue and expenditure according to national accounting plan methodology Monthly state budget execution report according to organisational state budget classification and economic classification (classes 3 and 4) Monthly state budget execution and financial plan execution report by extra-budgetary users broken down in accordance with GFS 2001 methodology Kao članica globalne inicijative Partnerstvo za otvorenu vlast, Republika Hrvatska je, podupirući načela transparentnosti, prihvatila Akcijski plan za provedbu inicijative Partnerstvo za otvorenu vlast. Jedno od 4 poglavlja obuhvaćena ovim Akcijskim planom je fiskalna transparentnost. U sklopu mjere 1., provedbene aktivnosti 1.2., Ministarstvo financija objavljuje na internetskoj stranici: Mjesečni izvještaj o izvršenju državnog proračuna s podacima o ostvarenim rashodima prema organizacijskoj klasifikaciji Izvještaj se objavljuje najkasnije mjesec dana nakon isteka razdoblja na koje se odnosi. MJERA 4. FISKALNA TRANSPARENTNOST 4.2. Pravovremeno objavljivati mjesečne izvještaje o izvršenju državnog proračuna prema nacionalnoj metodologiji računskog plana i prema metodologiji GFS 2001

Monthly state budget execution report for most important categories of revenue and expenditure in accordance with national accounting plan methodology

Monthly report on state budget execution according to organisational classification and economic classification (classes 3 and 4)

Monthly state budget execution report according to organisational classification and economic classification (classes 3 and 4)

Monthly state budget execution and financial plan execution report by extra-budgetary users broken down according to GFS 2001 methodology

Citizens’ Guidebook For the purpose of better understanding and more active participation in the budgetary process, the Ministry of Finance publishes the Citizens’ Guidebook on budget and budget execution on its website. MJERA 4. FISKALNA TRANSPARENTNOST 4.5 izraditi i objaviti vodiče za građane za ključne proračunske dokumente

Citizens’ Guidebook – 2014 State Budget Execution – content: Macroeconomic framework State budget revenue State budget expenditure Financial plan execution by extra-budgetary users General Government deficit

Citizens’ Guidebook

Citizens’ Guidebook

Citizens’ Guidebook

Citizens’ Guidebook

Citizens’ Guidebook

Budget publications

Plan of payments to budgetary users for November 2015

Plan of payments to budgetary users – archives

Online application “Payments from the state budget by suppliers” Publicly searchable database concerning payments from the single state budget account designed and published – publicly available data on direct payments to suppliers MJERA 4. FISKALNA TRANSPARENTNOST Izrdaiti i javno objeviti pretraživu bazu podataka o izvršenim plaćanjima s jedinstvenog računa državnog proračuna

Online application “Payments from the state budget by suppliers” – search results

Publication of financial statements – Ministry of Construction and Physical Planning

Publication of financial statements – Ministry of Construction and Physical Planning Financijski dokumenti Financijska izvješća

Publication of financial statements – Ministry of Construction and Physical Planning

Publication of financial statements – Ministry of Construction and Physical Planning (Report on revenue and expenditure, accounts payable & receivable)

Publication of financial statements – Ministry of Construction and Physical Planning (Balance Sheet)