Dalić Announced More Intensive Implementation of Pension System and Education Reform

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts Martina Dalić said on Wednesday that this year will see a more intensive implementation of pension reform and further reform of the education system, and she stated that she views the upcoming parliamentary debate on her dismissal as an attempt by certain individuals from the opposition to use the significant problem of Agrokor for their own promotion.

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The National Reform Program is Being Completed

In the Croatian Radio program ‘And Now the Government’, Dalić highlighted that the national reform program is being completed.

– This document will bring a continuation of some of the existing reforms, reforms that we are implementing, which primarily means changes and further improvements in the area of the investment environment, in the area of the business climate, thus generally strengthening the attractiveness of Croatia as an investment destination. On the other hand, the preparations we made last year allow us to now more intensively proceed with the implementation of pension reform, that is, the amendment of regulations regarding the pension system, state administration, and of course further intensification and further implementation of education system reforms, emphasized Dalić.

By the end of April, the Government must send the national reform program, as well as the convergence program of the Republic of Croatia, to the European Commission.

The national reform program defines the state and plans for the implementation of key structural policies of the state, while the convergence program determines the key characteristics of the macroeconomic and fiscal policy framework. These activities are part of the mandatory reporting process and alignment of the economic policies of EU member states with the jointly defined goals and provisions of the Union, and non-compliance results in sanctions that include the ‘freezing’ of EU funds for the member state.

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‘Political Attempt’

When asked what she expects in the Parliament, which will discuss the initiation of a confidence motion against Dalić on Thursday at the proposal of 37 opposition MPs, she stated that the quality of that submission is shown by its content.

– The content of that submission contains errors, there is also incorrect definition not only of the duties I perform but also of certain essential elements, those that the submitters thought were important. That proposal is a political attempt, among many, to use this very significant problem (Agrokor), which the Government has been facing for the last 15 months, to actually exploit it for some individual political interests and to try to score points on it. And to try to score points on a problem that affects such a large number of people and with which the Government is managing precisely to preserve jobs and, in a certain way, the perspective for a large number of people, says Dalić.

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She believes that the entire debate will show the real motives of the submitters of that interpellation, assessing that they are at the level of political populism.

– When some other countries faced such problems (Agrokor), it regularly happened that all stakeholders of the political system gathered around solving such a problem. That did not happen here. Certain representatives of the opposition have tried to use this problem for their own promotion throughout this time, and in fact, I see this interpellation of distrust in that direction, Dalić stated, among other things.