Are internships and professional exams being abolished for doctors?

The Croatian Government has submitted around ten legislative proposals to the parliamentary procedure from today’s session, aligning Croatian legislation with European standards, including a new law on administrative procedures and eight laws in the healthcare sector.

This package announces that after Croatia’s entry into the EU, doctors and nurses who complete their studies will no longer have to undergo internships or take professional exams. Minister of Health Darko Milinović emphasizes that the legal changes include a requirement for doctors coming to work in Croatia to have a basic knowledge of the Croatian language for communication with patients and other healthcare professionals. He also points out that in accordance with EU directives on the recognition of professional qualifications or regulated professions and the automatic recognition of these qualifications in all EU member states without knowledge verification, all those who graduate from medical school in Croatia will have the same employment conditions and criteria as doctors in EU countries.

The implementation of this directive on the recognition of qualifications into domestic legislation is incorporated into laws on healthcare, medicine, nursing, dental practice, and medical-biochemical activities, and two new laws on midwifery and physiotherapy have also been aligned with European legislation. A new law on administrative procedures has also been proposed to the Parliament, which, when it comes into force on January 1, 2010, will replace the law inherited from the former state, dating back to 1956. “We want to introduce a unified administrative procedure, as we currently have a situation regulated by 60 special laws, resulting in 60 different administrative procedures,” stated Antun Palarić, State Secretary of the Central State Office for Administration. This legal text brings a number of innovations, including a clearer definition of administrative acts, the possibility of replacing an administrative act or decision with an administrative contract, and places special emphasis on public-private partnerships. As of today, the Government has submitted one hundred legislative texts in the process of aligning legislation, with 26 more to be submitted by the end of the year.

Prime Minister Ivo Sanader conveyed to the members of the Government his satisfaction with the results and the good atmosphere during yesterday’s talks in Brussels. The European Commission may come out with a timeline for the conclusion of negotiations in November, said the Prime Minister, emphasizing that in discussions with European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, 2009 was once again confirmed as the target year, provided Croatia fulfills its tasks. On behalf of the Government, the Prime Minister also thanked the Hungarian Government and Parliament, who were the first to ratify the protocol on Croatia’s accession to NATO, expressing hope that this process could conclude before NATO’s 60th anniversary, which will be celebrated at the end of April next year. The Government also established a multidisciplinary working group during the open part of today’s session, which will be led by Justice Minister Ana Lovrin, tasked with conducting a comprehensive analysis of the Law on Financing Political Parties, Independent Lists, and Candidates. The association Healthy Newborn has raised just over 1.55 million kuna for the renovation of the Pregnancy Pathology Department at Zagreb’s Petrova Hospital, and from donations made by citizens, VAT in the amount of 340.58 thousand kuna was paid by phone, and the Government today approved that this amount of paid VAT be allocated to the Association from budget reserves. (Hina)