Croatian Parliament Split Over New Construction Law

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The news in Croatian

1. Sabor  (m.)
   najviše predstavničko i zakonodavno tijelo u Republici Hrvatskoj ↩︎
2. papirologija  (f.)
   velika količina službenih papira i dokumenata koje treba ispuniti ili obraditi ↩︎
3. oporba  (f.)
   političke stranke i zastupnici koji nisu na vlasti i kritiziraju ili nadziru vladu ↩︎
4. investitor  (m.)
   osoba ili tvrtka koja ulaže novac u neki projekt kako bi kasnije zaradila ↩︎
5. zlouporaba  (f.)
   korištenje nečega na loš, nedopušten ili nepošten način ↩︎
6. odgoda  (f.)
   pomicanje nečega na kasnije vrijeme; ne održati ili ne obaviti u prvotno planiranom terminu ↩︎

Translation

Text comprehension

Question 1: According to the government, how will the new construction laws help ordinary citizens?

Question 2: Why does the opposition want to delay the vote on the new laws?

Vocabulary

Croatian	English
Sabor  (m.)	parliament
papirologija  (f.)	paperwork
oporba  (f.)	opposition
investitor  (m.)	investor
zlouporaba  (f.)	abuse
odgoda  (f.)	postponement

Read the full story

The Croatian Parliament (Sabor) has been sharply divided over a new package of construction and spatial planning laws, especially the proposed Law on Construction. The government, led by the ruling party HDZ, argues that the reforms will speed up building procedures and modernise the system. The opposition claims that the laws mainly help powerful investors and could lead to abuses of land and public space.

The package consists of three connected laws: a new Law on Construction, a Law on Spatial Planning, and a law on energy efficiency in buildings. Together, they are presented as a major reform of how Croatia plans, controls and approves building projects, from private houses to larger developments.

At the start of the session, the government proposed a combined debate on all three laws. This proposal failed because exactly the same number of MPs voted for and against it. As a result, the Parliament must discuss each law separately. The unexpected voting result led some opposition MPs, such as Marija Selak Raspudić, to question whether the ruling parties still have a clear majority, and she even suggested that “perhaps the Parliament should be dissolved”. The Speaker, Gordan Jandroković, rejected that idea and insisted that the vote did not measure the government’s majority.

During the debate, government MPs and their allies promoted the reform as being in the interest of citizens and professionals. According to them, the new rules will shorten waiting times for building permits, reduce bureaucracy and introduce a more digital and transparent system. Supporters, including MPs from HDZ, the Croatian People’s Party and the Homeland Movement, say the laws will make it easier for people to build their homes without waiting months or years for official decisions. They also argue that the reform will contribute to safer, higher-quality buildings and better spatial planning.

Government representatives stress that local authorities will keep strong powers over their own territory. HDZ MP Tomislav Klarić stated that cities and municipalities still have “the cloth and the scissors” – a Croatian expression meaning they control how land is used. He added that the aim is to support affordable housing at a time when property prices are rising quickly, and noted that associations of cities, municipalities and counties had not raised major objections.

The opposition parties, however, strongly disagree with this positive assessment. Many opposition MPs argue that the new laws are rushed, poorly prepared and risky. They say that professional organisations in the construction and planning sector have called for more time and changes, and that these warnings have not been fully taken into account. Several MPs demanded that the package be withdrawn or at least sent to a third reading, which would allow further corrections.

A central criticism concerns the promise of faster building permits. Opposition MP Marija Selak Raspudić argued that the new system does not really simplify procedures, but rather moves responsibilities from public offices to private designers. In her view, this may speed up paperwork but will not shorten the time until actual construction can start. Former construction minister Anka Mrak Taritaš reminded Parliament that a similar system had existed before and that investors then actually preferred dealing with public offices because it was faster in practice.

Other opposition MPs warned that the draft allows issuing a building permit based only on a conceptual (preliminary) design for simpler projects, with the main design prepared later. For MP Dalibor Paus, this means that someone can quickly obtain “a piece of paper” that does not yet allow building but could be used for speculation with land. Several speakers, including Jasenka Auguštan Pentek, argued that such solutions create space for corruption and misuse, rather than tightening control of construction.

Concerns were also expressed about oversight and quality control. Opposition MP Ante Kujundžić claimed that the new law does not clearly establish mandatory mechanisms for checking construction quality, materials and safety. According to him, too much depends on the good will of investors and designers. Some MPs said that, instead of strengthening supervision, the reform could centralise decisions about land and space in the hands of a smaller number of actors at the national level.

Beyond technical details, several opposition leaders framed the debate as a question of public interest and national identity. The president of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Siniša Hajdaš Dončić, argued that laws on space and construction must protect the common good, especially when Croatia is strongly influenced by global investment funds and international capital. He warned that the package, as proposed, could deepen social and regional divisions in how land and coastal areas are used, and he called on Parliament to “prevent the grabbing of land”.

Some opposition MPs used very strong language, describing the reform as a “buffet for interest groups” and accusing the government of favouring big capital and construction lobbies over ordinary citizens. They expressed fears that foreign and domestic investors will gain easier access to attractive locations, while local communities will have less influence on how their neighbourhoods and natural resources develop. MPs from the green-left party Možemo! said that more and more cities and municipalities are resisting what they call a construction lobby, and that the new laws send a message that such resistance will not be effective.

The political conflict has also moved outside the Parliament. The party Možemo! reported that it has launched an information campaign explaining the three laws to citizens and encouraging them to contact MPs. According to MP Sandra Benčić, more than 11,000 emails have already been sent to representatives of the ruling majority, urging them to vote against the package.

Despite the heated exchanges, the government continues to insist that the laws are necessary to modernise Croatia’s construction sector and bring it into line with digital and sustainable standards. Supporters and opponents agree that faster and clearer procedures are needed, but they disagree strongly on whether this particular reform will achieve that goal, and on how it will affect land use, transparency and the balance of power between investors, the state and local communities.

As the Parliament moves from debate to voting on each of the three laws, the outcome will shape how Croatia manages its space, cities and coast in the coming years – an issue that many MPs see not only as technical, but also as central to the country’s future development.

Info: ‘Croatian Learner News’ is a service from ‘Let’s Learn Croatian’, a language school dedicated to teaching Croatian through various online courses and structured Croatian lessons designed for different levels of learners.