Zagreb - Parliament on Friday unanimously fast-tracked amendments to the Foreign Investment Screening Act, creating the framework for reviewing investments that could affect national security or public order in Croatia and the EU.
The legislation fulfils an OECD accession criterion and transposes an EU regulation.
It also establishes a Commission for the Screening of Foreign Investments from third countries to assess cases involving critical infrastructure, key resource supply, sensitive data, communications, electoral systems and the media, as well as foreign participation in concessions.
Lawmakers also urgently amended the Medicines Act, introducing mandatory reporting of drug stock levels at all stages of the supply chain, from manufacturers and wholesalers to pharmacies. The Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices and the Health Ministry will monitor supplies in real time to prevent shortages.
Parliament adopted a new law on the protection of geographical indications for craft and industrial products, aligning Croatian law with an EU regulation that from 1 December establishes an EU-wide protection system for such designations as intellectual property rights.
To meet OECD requirements, MPs amended the Agricultural Land Act, removing the reciprocity condition for inheritance of farmland by legal and natural persons from countries adhering to the OECD Code of Liberalisation of Invisible Operations. Foreigners still cannot own agricultural land unless permitted by international treaties or specific legislation, though inheritance is allowed under reciprocity.
Lawmakers rejected a motion by We Can!, SDP, HSS, GLAS, IDS and SDSS, which sought to oblige the government to declare reservations during OECD accession on all forms of foreign acquisition of agricultural and forest land, including by inheritance.
Parliament also adopted the 2024 annual reports of the police and the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency.