A delegation of the Croatian Ministry of Justice visited The Hague 18 – 30 April for an intensive two-week training course on the practical aspects of EU Law and EU Law issues. Fourteen key staff members of various Directorates and Departments of the Croatian Ministry have built up their knowledge on the various EU Institutions, the acquis communautaire, and the challenges of its implementation.
The Center for International Legal Cooperation (CILC) together with the European Academy for Law and Legislation (EALL) designed a tailored program on the implications of EU accession for the day-to-day work of Croatian civil servants. The courses focused on guidelines for legislative drafting, the problems and practice of EU Law implementation, EU Cohesion Politics and the various national programs, and the procedures in the coordination process between Brussels and the national governments.
This training course is part of a bigger project on enhancing the capacities within the Croatian Ministry of Justice and the Judicial Academy of Croatia in order to implement the Croatian Strategy for the Reform of the Judiciary. The ultimate aim of the project is to support Croatia in meeting the criteria for its accession to the European Union.
The next steps in the project will include a follow-up course at the Croatian Ministry of Justice to beef up and further broaden the practical approaches to EU Law issues. In addition, several training missions to Croatia for strengthening the Croatian Judicial Academy will be organized. This May, a specialized course on preliminary reference procedures will take place. This autumn a mission on Competition law and/or IP Law will follow.