Easy for Ministers, but Ministries Should Have Been Defined Earlier

Whatever the structure and personnel composition of the new government will be, we fear that it is being assembled without a deeper analysis. Announcements suggest that instead of the current twenty ministries, there should be fifteen or sixteen, which the expected mandate and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković should announce on Thursday. However, even those who support the reduction in the number of ministries emphasize that it will only be meaningful if the public administration becomes more efficient, which is not only uncertain but also indicates that the fluctuations in the number of ministries, as well as in the personnel composition of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, suggest that it is being done ad hoc and, more importantly, are indicators that there will be no deeper reforms.

Changes are daily. As of this Wednesday, at least according to what has leaked to the media, the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts will merge with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy into what is colloquially called a megaministry. It is almost certain that the ‘megaminister’ will be the current Minister of Energy Tomislav Ćorić.

Although there is some doubt in the public that such a ministry will be too cumbersome, Professor from the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb Ljubo Jurčić believes that such qualifications are exaggerated because they are not so large that a quality person could not manage those departments. His colleague from the Department of Organization and Management at the same faculty, Professor Darko Tipurić, thinks that it is even good to create a ‘ministry of economy’ because ‘our economy is not that large nor is our country so big that we would have a large number of ministries’.

– We need ten ministries, achieving systemic efficiency, but that is not possible overnight. If in a year we see a positive effect of such structural changes, then it will mean that the Prime Minister’s decision was good. In any case, I would give the Prime Minister a chance to go in that direction – says Tipurić.

Regarding the merger of these two ministries, the business community generally did not want to express its opinion or preferred to remain anonymous. The impression was created that they themselves do not have information about what will happen with the Ministry of Economy (except from the media), but, says one manager drawing a parallel with his work, the minister should not be overly burdened with a large number of departments and hopes that the ‘merger of ministries has been well thought out’.

Another entrepreneur who did not want to speak publicly emphasizes that the idea of merging these two ministries is not bad at all because it would avoid the back-and-forth between the two ministries, for example, in the implementation of a project that would depend on an environmental impact study.

Jurčić (who was the Minister of Economy in Račan’s government) also speaks about such possible back-and-forths that would be avoided by this merger, but we fear that this was not the guiding thought of those who are now forming the government. There is also another side to the coin. The future minister Ćorić comes from the environmental protection and energy sector, hence there is a fear that in his work he unconsciously promotes only that part of his job. However, as Professor Tipurić also said, one should give a person a chance. After all, entrepreneurs have been getting louder since the beginning of the pandemic, and there is no doubt that the new minister will be able to hear them.

The Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Spin Valis Zdravko Jelčić welcomes the merger of these two ministries as he believes it is very good in practical, functional, and cost terms and for the necessary reforms of public administration. He believes that the government will also show that urgent structural reforms have been accepted, in which the reform of public administration and justice is key.

– The new Minister of Economy will be good if he has strong support from the Prime Minister and the entire government and who, along with the Minister of Finance, will be a key minister to initiate reindustrialization with strong political support and make Croatia competitive and economically prosperous – says Jelčić.

Listening to him, perhaps Ćorić is indeed the best solution for the economy as he is known as a person of Plenković’s personal trust, which is not unimportant when we talk about changes that entrepreneurs are seeking.

Read more in the new issue of digital and printed edition of Lider.

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