Friday

29th Mar 2024

EU tells Croatia to change law or face sanctions

  • Croatia amended the European Arrest Warrant a few days before it joined the Union (Photo: banspy)

The European Commission is threatening sanctions against Croatia if it fails to revert national amendments made to the European Arrest Warrant (EAW).

Mina Andreeva, a spokesperson for EU justice commissioner Viviane Reding, told this website on Wednesday (21 August) that Croatia has until Friday (23 August) before midnight to submit a deadline on when to scrap the changes.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

“We have explained on several occasions why legally this is wrong,” said Andeeva.

The dispute centres around the former director of the Yugoslav-era Croatian secret police, Josip Perkovic. German authorities believe the ex-spy is connected to a Communist-era assassination of a Croat defector killed in Germany.

Germany’s federal prosecutor issued an EAW over the summer to extradite Perkovic. The warrant is used to extradite people suspected of an offence from one EU country to another.

"So far we have not received any response," Marcus Koehler, spokesperson for Germany’s federal prosecutor, said in an email.

Croatia joined the EU club in July and along with it, all the EU laws that it is required to comply with, including the EAW.

But lawmakers, three days before Croatia became the 28th member state on 1 July, amended the EAW under the so-called “lex Perkovic,” which prevents them from extraditing anyone for crimes committed before 7 August 2002.

The EU, alerted by the amendments, has called upon the Croat authorities to scrap the law or face possible sanctions.

EU justice commissioner Viviane Reding sent a letter in June addressed to the Croatian minister of justice, Orsat Miljenic, where she outlined her concerns over intentions by the parliament to amend the EAW.

“Two days later and three days before the actual accession they adopted the law,” said Andeeva.

Miljenic replied to the letter, stating they will co-operate but never followed through.

Reding then sent a second letter to Miljenic in July where she explained Croatia cannot insert derogations into the EAW.

She said the changes “observe neither the letter nor the spirit of these obligations and breaches EU law.”

Miljenic has yet to respond to Reding’s second letter.

In an interview given to Croatia’s Danas News on Monday, Reding said a clause in Croatia’s Accession Treaty gives the commission the right to take “appropriate measures in the event of serious shortcomings”.

Croatia, if it refuses to change the law, could face a country reporting mechanism not unlike those currently tracking Romania and Bulgaria. The commission can also suspend financial instruments that would restrict EU funding.

Croatia was entitled to bring up the issue or ask for clarifications during the accession negotiation process but never did.

“The ball is now in the court of the Croatians, we expect their answer and their commitment with a timetable for changing the law and if this is not forthcoming, then as I said, our legal experts are already working on what appropriate measures could be,” said Andreeva.

For its part, a contact in Croatia’s ministry of justice who wanted to remain anonymous, said authorities have yet to issue any official statements on the issue.

Despite naming the amended law ‘lex Perkovic’, the contact said it had no connections to Josip Perkovic.

“The date August 2002 is the date when the European Arrest Warrant was implemented,” noted the contact.

He would not explain why the warrant was amended in the first place.

Croatia becomes 28th EU member state

Croatia became the 28th member of the EU at midnight on Sunday, less than 20 years after gaining independence from Yugoslavia.

EU Parliament set to sue EU Commission over Hungary funds

The European Parliament will likely take the European Commission to court for unblocking more than €10bn in funds for Hungary last December. A final nod of approval is still needed by European Parliament president, Roberta Metsola.

EU Commission clears Poland's access to up to €137bn EU funds

The European Commission has legally paved the way for Poland to access up to €137bn EU funds, following Donald Tusk's government's efforts to strengthen the independence of their judiciary and restore the rule of law in the country.

Opinion

Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers

The UN could launch an independent international investigation into Navalny's killing, akin to investigation I conducted on Jamal Khashoggi's assassination, or on Navalny's Novichok poisoning, in my role as special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, writes the secretary-general of Amnesty International.

Opinion

I'll be honest — Moldova's judicial system isn't fit for EU

To state a plain truth: at present, Moldova does not have a justice system worthy of a EU member state; it is riven with corruption and lax and inconsistent standards, despite previous attempts at reform, writes Moldova's former justice minister.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us