FEEDBACK NOTE DELEGATION OF THE COMMITTE ON THE ENVIRONMENT, PUBLIC HEALTH AND FOOD SAFETY CROATIA, OCTOBER 2012

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1 FEEDBACK NOTE DELEGATION OF THE COMMITTE ON THE ENVIRONMENT, PUBLIC HEALTH AND FOOD SAFETY CROATIA, OCTOBER 2012 Monday 29 October: Individual arrival by the participants from different cities in Europe at the Zagreb - Pleso international airport and check in at the Esplanade Hotel; 16.00: Briefing on the political situation in Croatia and the accession negotiations This briefing with special emphasis on the different ENVI-related issues was presented by Mr Paolo Berizzi who pointed out that 20 Member States had ratified Croatia's accession so far but that some M.S. were withholding their ratification pending the clarification and settlement of some issues as is the case with Slovenia with regard to the Ljubljanska Banka question. There were several open questions where there was still some work ahead like: the question of the privatisation of three shipyards, respect of fundamental rights, combating corruption, the functioning of the judiciary, the question of the Neum-corridor (Dalmatian coastal strip belonging to Bosnia-Herzegowina), the translation of the EU acquis and the lukewarm support of the public for EU accession. Members put questions about energy issues, agriculture, the level of wages and EU support among the political parties in the country : Exchange of views with the civil society The following NGOs met the ENVI members: Friends of the Earth-Croatia, Slavonski Brod Ecological Society, the Croatian Consumer Protection Association, the Croatian Patient Society, the League for the promotion of the inclusion of patients with mental illnesses, the Association of women suffering from breast cancer and representatives of the Croatian Chamber of Agriculture. During this meeting several questions were raised such as: the insufficient implementation by the Croatian Government of the environmental legislation, the problems with regard to the personal rights of patients, dealing with complaints, 1

2 protection of the small farmers and the problems for small market vendors to comply with the new EU food safety legislation. Ms Rima DELJKIĆ, Mr Alexander ZENEBE and Mr Davor PERCAN from the EU - representation in Zagreb gave helpful clarifications. Tuesday 30 October: 8h50 to 9h00: Mr Josip Leko, Speaker of the Sabor (Croatian Parliament) gave the Members of the EP a warm welcome and wished them interesting and fruitful discussions with their Croatian counterparts. Mr Leinen, Head of the ENVIdelegation, presented the members of the delegation, gave a brief outline of the programme and welcomed Croatia into a borderless Europe. 9h00-9h45: Meeting with the Committee on Environment and Nature Conservation (chaired by Mr Bačić) Mr Bačić stated that Croatia in the field of environment (chapter 27 of the accession negotiations) basically meets the criteria for accession to the EU. Environmental Impact Assessment is becoming mandatory but is not yet applied everywhere. The aim is to have 37% of the Croatian territory as a NATURA 2000 sites. Substantial investments will have to be made in waste management and 800 landfills will be closed. Everything will be done to comply with the EU-acquis. Ms Holy pointed out that Croatia is very dependent upon imported energy; only 1,7 % of the energy used in the country is renewable energy and energy efficiency is not yet well developed. She hopes that complying with Emission Trading will stimulate a reduction of energy consumption. Croatia is complying with the Kyoto-Protocol. Members of the ENVI delegation put questions on nuclear energy, energy efficiency and the energy supply breakdown. 9h55-10h40:Meeting with the Agriculture Committee (chaired by Mr Čobanković) Food and veterinary inspections are chapter 12 of the accession negotiations. Croatia's veterinary legislation is now aligned to the EU-legislation but on the implementation side there are still flaws where improvements are necessary. Croatia will have a large external border with the accession to the EU and is currently very busy setting up homologated check points for food and veterinary purposes. On questions from different ENVI members the Chairman pointed out that Croatia did not yet comply fully with the legislation on laying hens, did not allow GMOs to be used, had eradicated the avian flu and that the cheese sector had some problems with the new EU legislation. Organic farming was not very successful so far because of bad marketing and insufficient demand. MEPs put also questions about food labelling. 10h50-11h35: Meeting with the Health and Social Policy Committee (chaired by Ms Biljana Borzan) Ms Borzan pointed out that 20% of the Croatian state budget goes to health and social policy. An ever stronger emphasis is put on the prevention of the big health threats such as cardio-vascular diseases, obesity, diabetes and smoking. Preventive check ups 2

3 are so far not very successful as well as the colon cancer actions. Mr Grubišić mentioned that tobacco producers receive too high subsidies which conflicts with anti-smoking campaigns where Croatia has been very active. Ms Jerković (also Croatian observer in the ENVI committee) mentioned that as regards tissues and organs transplantation Croatia had founded a body dealing with those questions. Croatia has a very high rate of organ donors, the second after Spain in Europe. Waiting lists for patients are a problem which had to be addressed urgently. Lunch in the Croatian Parliament building attended from the Croatian side by Mr. Reiner, Vice-Chairman of the Parliament, Mr Bačić, Chairman of the Environment and Nature Conservation Committee), Mr Čobanković, Chairman of the Agriculture Committee), Ms Borzan (Chair of the health and Social Policy Committee and Mr Plenković (Observer in the EP-BUDG committee). 13h20-18h00: Visit of the Plitviče National Park Arrival at the Hotel Plitviče at where the ENVI- delegation was welcomed by Ms Lidija Bertović, General Manager of the park who gave an introduction in the biodiversity and management aspects of the park. Ms Bertović answered also several questions put by the ENVI-delegation. From the hotel a park guide led the delegation along a path with scenic views and gave more details about the flora and fauna of the park which is home to big European animals like wolves and bears and has unique geological (karst) characteristics. After a one hour walk the delegation returned to Zagreb. Wednesday 31 October: 9h00-9h45: Meeting at the Ministry of Agriculture (Deputy Minister Mrs Španjol) The EP delegation heard a presentation by the Deputy Minister on the state of play in Croatia regarding border inspection points, specific regulations with regard to the Neum-corridor, plant variety registration and adaptation to the new laying hens and eggs legislation. MEPs put questions in particular about GMOs, bird flu, food inspection proceedings, the use of antibiotics, the horizontal cooperation with other ministries, the difficult situation of the small farmers, especially on the small islands. 10h10-10h55: Meeting at the Croatian Chamber of Economy (President Vidošević) The President of the Chamber gave a presentation of the different characteristics of the Croatian economy and discussed the following subjects: resource efficiency, the dominant position of SME's in the Croatian economy which in general are well prepared for EU-access but could in some cases suffer from a lack of competitive strength, partially due to the too strong currency (Kuna), the increasing importance of 3

4 the service industry and the increasing demand for energy; renewable energy is not yet very well developed; the shipyard industry could, however, experience serious problems if the state has to privatise the companies, resulting in a loss of technological knowledge and skilled workers; corruption is a problem that hampers the economy in general. MEPs put questions on WEE, fossil fuels, secondary raw materials, shale gas, tourism, public procurements and the balance between industry and the environment; 11h20-12h05: Meeting at the Ministry of Health (Deputy Minister of Health Mr.Cesarik) The Deputy Minister stressed that health is a high priority for the Croatian Government which has to face new situations and an ageing population where cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, smoking and alcohol are the main challenges; mental health is well taken care of in Croatia and the country is due to its position as a touristic destination, well prepared for cross border health care. MEPs put i.e. questions about falsified medicines and e-prescriptions, organ transplantations, the available number of hospital beds, Croatian tobacco law, patientdoctor relations (patient rights) and health care insurance; 12h30-14h00: Working lunch with the Deputy -Minister for Environment and Nature Protection Mr. Dokoza and Mr Neven Voca, Executive Director of the Croatian Environment Agency During the lunch MEPs discussed mainly the role of nature protection in Croatia making the country an attractive destination for visitors. Mr Leinen, ENVI delegation leader, thanked the Deputy Minister for the warm welcome and wished the country all the best as a new EU Member State. 14h00: Individual departures of MEPs and staff. End of the visit COMPOSITION OF THE DELEGATION: Members: Mr Jo LEINEN (S&D) Chair Mrs Romana JORDAN (EPP) Mr Miroslav MIKOLÁŠIK (EPP) Mr Andres PERELLO RODRIGUEZ (S&D) Mr Vladko Todorov PANAYOTOV (ALDE) Mr Yves COCHET (Greens/EFA) Staff: Mr Martin FUCHS (ENVI secretariat) Mr Jos VERVLOET (EMVI secretariat) Mr Knut GOELZ (political group advisor EPP) Mrs Ulrike SCHÖNER (political group advisor S&D) Mrs Diana GIERSTORFER (political group advisor ALDE) 4

5 Mr Mirko Brodnjak (Interpreter) Mr Vedran Puljko (Interpreter) Ms Ivana Dulcić(Interpreter) 5