A slow judiciary and corruption at the local level are some of the main challenges facing Croatia in the area of the rule of law, European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, said on Thursday while addressing a seminar on the rule of law, held in the Istrian town of Fazana.

The legal framework in the fight against corruption has on the main part been established, said Reynders, underscoring that the greatest problem was corruption at the local level.

The most important issue is the fight against corruption at the local level, Reynders said at the European Commission’s seminar on the rule of law.

The government can address that problem with regulation that prevents conflict of interest between state and local officials and by resolving the problem of the influence local officials have on companies owned by local government.

Reynders underscored that as the youngest member of the European Union, Croatia could learn a lot from older EU members regarding judicial reforms.

The good news is that there are areas in which progress has been achieved over the past few years, said the commissioner.

Gradual progress exists in electronic communication between judicial bodies however Croatia has to improve the digitalization of its judicial system, he underscored.

A slow judiciary is another Croatian problem and there is a huge difference in that regard between Croatia and other EU member states.

One particular problem, said Reynders, is the fact that Croatian citizens have the least trust in the judiciary of all the EU member states.

Frequent lawsuits against reporters, threats of physical attacks and online abuse, are the challenges in the area of media freedom, he underscored.

The European Commission is aware that the problem is increasing in certain member states, said Reynders.

The Electronic Media Agency operates transparently, said Reynders, but it is not completely free of political influence due to the appointment procedure, he added.