The Green Alternative - Sustainable Development Party of Croatia (ORaH) presented its anti-corruption programme on Friday in the run-up to the European Parliament elections. It is calling for a standardised definition of corruption and an expansion of the powers of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO).

“We will work to harmonise the definition of corruption in all EU member states in order to facilitate cross-border prosecution, which we believe will reduce the risk of corruption,” said ORaH leader Zorislav Antun Petrovic at a press conference in Zagreb.

Referring to a European Parliament survey, Petrovic said that the European Union loses about 1 trillion euros a year due to corruption. “If we managed to keep at least part of this money, it would be enough to eradicate hunger in the world, which requires about 229 billion euros

Croatia loses 15 billion euros a year to corruption, he added.

EPPO must take precedence over the national State attorney’s office

Apart from the same definition of the offence of corruption in the EU member states, Petrovic said that strict deterrence measures are also needed.

Dinko Kulas, chairman of the party’s main forum, said that ORaH in the European Parliament will call for strengthening and extending the powers of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.

“This institution has proven to be the most efficient in the fight against corruption, especially in Croatia. The powers of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office should be extended to cover all serious corruption offences with cross-border elements involving several EU countries,” said Kulas.

The ORaH demands that the EPPO must take precedence over the national State Attorney’s Office. This would mean that the State Attorney-General would no longer be able to resolve conflicts of jurisdiction between the DORH (Croatian State Attorney’s Office) and the EPPO and remove certain cases from the EPPO’s jurisdiction.