Justice Minister Orsat Miljenic said on Monday the government would discuss on Thursday a law under which the limit to the application of the European Arrest Warrant to crimes committed after August 2002 would be lifted on July 15, 2014.
The law is going into fast track procedure, it will be passed very soon, during this parliament session, but go into force on July 15, he said on Croatian Television.
He described as entirely unfounded any announcement of any sanctions by the European Commission, saying sanctions did not exist as such, rather certain measures could be taken.
They have their position, we have ours, and the matter goes on, but citizens certainly won't be deprived of even one euro because of this situation, Miljenic said, adding that the government based its optimism on the fact that it wanted the same treatment and approach that had been applied to other European Union member countries in such cases.
No country that did the same thing was put under any sanctions, I don't see why Croatia would be, he said.
It took some countries three to four years to rescind the EAW limit, it took one ten years, but the Commission did not react, so I don't know why ten months to change the law would be a problem, he added.
The minister said Croatia had not been unaligned with the EU acquis communautaire but did what it could in line with the European Commission's official translation, which was incorrect.
When we consulted the Commission in July, we said we would change the law and this is under way, so I don't see what more we should do, Miljenic said, recalling that the prime minister said in July that if Croatia had made a mistake, the law would be changed.
Croatia is in no hostage crisis and is doing its job regularly. We are completely consistent in this. Every country is entitled to its position and fight for it, he added.
