{"id":13230,"date":"2014-02-17T10:13:27","date_gmt":"2014-02-17T10:13:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.access-info.org\/?p=13230"},"modified":"2018-11-13T10:12:10","modified_gmt":"2018-11-13T09:12:10","slug":"country-case-study-croatia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.access-info.org\/es\/2014-02-17\/country-case-study-croatia\/","title":{"rendered":"Country case study: Croatia"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Is media ownership transparent?<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
In law<\/td>\nYES<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
In practice<\/td>\nNO<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

IN LAW<\/h3>\n

According to amendments to the Media Law (2011) and the Electronic Media Law (2012), it is possible to finds out who owns print, broadcast and online media in Croatia through information reported to: the relevant media authorities; directly to the public; or to corporate \/trade registers. Through the various laws media must disclose enough information for their real owners to be identified right back to the individual, not just to a company. This includes information on the all shareholdings over 1%, disclosure of beneficial owners and those with indirect interests and control and a bans on \u201csecret\u201d ownership.<\/p>\n

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<\/i><\/i><\/span>Background<\/span><\/a><\/h4><\/div>
In June 2011, concerns about suspicious financing of the media led to calls for changes to the law to allow identification of media owners back to an individual. The process of privatising the print media in Croatia, which had begun in 2000, had been rife with corruption scandals, with rumours of money laundering and disguised ownership of certain groups involved in criminal activities surrounding the sales of the biggest Croatian print media \u2013 Jutarnji list, Ve\u010dernji list and Slobodna Dalmacija. The real ownership structure of the media was often hidden behind secret contracts and far-reaching informal agreements involving high-profile individuals, such as politicians, police and public prosecutors.<\/p>\n

As a result, amendments to the Media Act and the Electronic Media Act were drafted very quickly and passed with minimal consultation by the Parliament in July 2011 (Media Act), with the same provisions being introduced to the Electronic Media Act in June 2012.<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

IN PRACTICE<\/h3>\n

Despite some well-defined provisions, the speed with which the amendments to the Media Act and Electronic Media Act were passed and the lack of consultation has resulted in serious omissions in the monitoring and enforcement side to the law. For example:<\/p>\n