The Minister for Public Administration, Lovro Kuscevic, said on Friday that the final version of a bill on the prevention of conflict of interest would be ready by the end of next week, adding that the new bill would not restrict the authority of the parliamentary Conflict of Interest Commission.

“Wishing to increase transparency in the conduct of state officials, and align the existing law with decisions of the Constitutional Court and the Act on the Protection of Personal Data, the government has decided to amend the Conflict of Interest Act. The bill is still in its working stage. We expect to have the final version by the end of next week, and then we will be able to discuss its specific measures as well as the bill in its entirety,” Kuscevic said.

“The purpose of this law is to make the conduct of state officials more ethical and expand the Commission’s powers as well as the circle of officials to whom it would apply,” he added.

Kuscevic said the Conflict of Interest Commission had already drafted a good proposal and that he expected it would be submitted on time for Tuesday’s discussion.

“There are several versions – one made by the Ministry for Public Administration, one made by the Commission, and a version of the old law. All the versions will be disucssed on Tuesday… I assure you that, very soon, the task force will present a single, good law,” said Kuscevic.

The task force has been working on the bill for a year, and the new law has to be adopted this year, Kuscevic said, commenting on the task force’s statement that the deadline for drafting the bill was very short.

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