Zagreb - The Croatian Parliament on Friday adopted amendments to the Enforcement Act, reducing the costs of enforcement proceedings, introducing electronic communication and exempting Christmas and Easter bonuses, holiday grants, and meal allowances from debt collection.
Under the amended law, evictions will not be carried out between November 1 and April 1, and the amount of loan principal for which debt collection cannot be initiated has been increased from HRK 20,000 to 40,000.
The government adopted, albeit in slightly modified form, an amendment put forward by the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) under which it will be able to halt debt enforcement proceedings for up to six months in the circumstances of the COVID-19 epidemic.
SDP leader Peđa Grbin said that the adoption of this amendment paved the way for a moratorium on debt enforcement proceedings, urging the government to do so already on Monday.
Because of the coronavirus epidemic, many people are unable to meet their financial obligations, so it is only moral to reintroduce a six-month moratorium on debt enforcement proceedings and use that period for response measures and for the adoption of a new enforcement law, Grbin said.