Implementation of the Land Governance Assessment Framework (LGAF) in the Republic of Croatia
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Public Disclosure Authorized Implementation of the Land Governance Assessment Framework (LGAF) in the Republic of Croatia – Final Report – Public Disclosure Authorized University of Zagreb, Faculty of Geodesy Country Coordinator: Prof. Miodrag Roić, DSc Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized January 2016 Implementation of the Land Governance Assessment Framework (LGAF) in the Republic of Croatia 2 Table of Contents TOC Implementation of the Land Governance Assessment Framework (LGAF) in the Republic of Croatia 3 Acknowledgements LGAF Implementation in the Republic of Croatia would not be possible without active participation of the many stakeholders in the land governance system. We would like to thank numerous institutions and individuals for their contribution to certain implementation stages. The initiative for the implementation came from the World Bank, which was then enthusiastically accepted by the key institutions within the system – the Ministry of Justice and the State Geodetic Administration – which are jointly implementing the Organized Land (Uređena zemlja) project. They were also joined by other public authorities, NGOs and the private sector during implementation. We would like to thank the Faculty of Geodesy of the University of Zagreb, where the project has been implemented, as well as the World Bank Office in the Republic of Croatia for the support they have provided regarding organization of workshops and panel discussions. I would especially like to thank the expert investigators who have prepared high-quality reports for the panel discussions and assessments, as well as numerous participants from all sectors of the system. We would like to thank the Government of Japan for their financial support, and the World Bank coordinators for their coordination, monitoring and consulting of local experts during the entire project implementation period. Implementation of the Land Governance Assessment Framework (LGAF) in the Republic of Croatia 4 Abbreviations ALA Agricultural Land Agency PAAFRD Paying Agency for Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development LPIS Land parcel identification system ICZM Integrated coastal zone management GDP Gross domestic product SGA State Geodetic Administration JSC Joint stock company DDP Detailed development plan SPMA State Property Management Administration d.o.o. Limited liability company EU European Union MP General Urban Plan CSF Croatian State Forests PPIS Physical planning information system ICZM Integrated coastal zone management LSGU Local self-government units (towns/municipalities) RSGU Regional self-government units (counties) LGAF Land Governance Assessment Framework RDC Register of Deposited Contracts MFIN Ministry of Finance MJ Ministry of Justice PIN Personal identification number MC Municipal Court TA Tax Administration RCO Regional Cadastre Office IUDP Implementing urban development plan RC Republic of Croatia WB World Bank UN United Nations UDP Urban development plan VGGT Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests JIS Joint information system PCA Protected coastal zone AOORR Act on Ownership and Other Property Rights Implementation of the Land Governance Assessment Framework (LGAF) in the Republic of Croatia 5 Summary The World Bank and partner institutions have developed LGAF as a diagnostic tool for the assessment of the legal framework, policies and practices regarding land governance in individual countries by way of evaluating 117 criteria grouped into 27 indicators and 9 modules. LGAF helps establish a consensus on priority activities within the land policy, which are to be carried out regarding land governance. LGAF also helps establish structure and procedures of continuous monitoring of the land governance improvement over time. The most important recommendations derived from the implementation of LGAF in Croatia have been: a. To align the land situation recorded in the key registers (the cadastre and the land register) with the actual situation, to conclude the registration of all lands and legal regimes and thus enable access to reliable information for everyone, and to eliminate redundant registers. b. To develop a comprehensive strategy of land governance which will help define a comprehensive land and housing policy and establish the spatial planning of land and sea areas, based on the strategy and development programs that take into account sustainable development. c. To develop a monitoring system of the spatial situation, within the framework of the key registers, unique to all sectors, and to publish information on the area situation while exchanging data between institutions and services. d. To improve the land resource management, to consolidate land and simplify public land use activation procedures. e. To eliminate over-regulation and over-segmentation of regulations, and to unify the management of original land data (the cadastre and the land register) by creating a more efficient management structure by means of reducing the number of institutions in charge of land. The prerequisite for the implementation of the aforementioned recommendations is to functionally link the existing registers and institutions. Key land/real estate registers of land/real estate should be unified and placed under the jurisdiction of a single institution. It is also necessary to unify various functions of land/real estate management within the framework of one institution. This would reduce the number of institutions and registers while simultaneously focusing on the quality of human resources. The criteria assessment is the result of the discussions of local experts at workshops organised according to standard panel topics. Based on the official data gathered from numerous institutions in charge of land, the assessment was conducted by recognised experts from public authorities, private sector, academic community and NGOs. This implementation phase does not include workshops for technical inspection and dialogues regarding the policy. This summary presents the most important results derived from the implementation. Further information on the implementation is contained in the following chapters. The First chapter provides basic introductory remarks on LGAF. The Second chapter presents the standard LGAF methodology. The Third chapter covers general data on Croatia and the situation in the land sector. The Fourth chapter presents the assessment and considerations for each individual module. Aside from the standard nine modules, the additional module Coastal Zone Management was also developed. The Fifth chapter provides the systematised and analysed results and recommendations, while the sixth chapter presents the conclusions. An assessment chart for all criteria is given in the supplement, as well as a list of experts who took part in the panel discussions, the proposal of recommendations for further discussion, and the final approval at Workshops for technical inspection and dialogues regarding policies. Implementation of the Land Governance Assessment Framework (LGAF) in the Republic of Croatia 6 General Data and Information The Republic of Croatia is a Central-European and a Mediterranean country, bordering with Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Italy (sea border). The Croatian territory covers 87,661 km2 in total, out of which 56,594 km2 is land. Croatia disposes over 31,067 km2 of the Adriatic Sea surface. Out of the overall area, 4.3 million hectares have the common good status, 3.0 million hectares are state-owned, 0.013 million hectares are owned by the regional/local self-government units and 2.6 million hectares are privately owned. The population predominantly lives in real estate located on privately-owned land. Urban areas (38% of the surface area) account for 70% of the population, and rural areas (62% of the surface area) account for 30% of the population. Forests and forest land account for 45% (2,7 million hectares) of the overall land area of the Republic of Croatia, and agricultural land accounts for 45% (2,7 million hectares). The Republic of Croatia owns 33% of the overall agricultural land and 78% of forests and forest land. According to the 2011 census, the Republic of Croatia has a population of 4,284,889, out of which 90.42% are Croats, 7.68% are minorities and 1.90% other nations. Croatia faces population decline, i.e. it has a negative population growth rate. 3.9% of the workforce are employed in the primary sector (agriculture, forestry and fisheries), 26.2% of the workforce are employed in the secondary sector (industry, construction, mining) and 69.9% of the workforce are employed in the tertiary sector (services) (2009). With the GDP of USD 13.020, the Republic of Croatia belongs to the countries with a high gross domestic product (the Atlas method for 2013). On the administrative level, Croatia is divided into units of regional self-government (20 counties and the City of Zagreb which bears a special status), 127 towns and 429 municipalities as units of local self-government. Each have their own representative bodies (assemblies and councils) and executive authorities (county prefects, mayors and municipal mayors). Many local self-government units do not have sufficient capacity to perform all functions within their competence. During 1990-s the Croatian socialist and half-market economy was transformed into the system based on private ownership and open market economy, and legislation was adopted which protects ownership. Social