On 19 March in Sibenik, four Croatian cities (Crikvenica, Ludbreg, Pazin and Vrgorac) were awarded the European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) at an event to mark the opening of the Local Government Week conference organised by the Association of Cities of the Republic of Croatia. Opening the Conference, Minister of Finance Marko Primorac stressed the importance of sound financial management and good democratic governance as key to building strong local government in Croatia.

ELoGE is a self-assessment tool composed of 12 Principles of good democratic governance, 36 targets and 72 indicators; it is awarded to municipalities which can demonstrate that they have achieved a high level of performance against those standards.

Receiving the award, Mayor of Pazin Suzana Jašić shared her valuable experience of working with councillors, staff and residents of her municipality to raise good governance standards in line with the ELoGE benchmark. “I am proud to accept this award on behalf of Pazin and feel even greater responsibility towards my citizens now,” she said.

At the ceremony, Mayor of Zabok Ivan Hanzek, a longstanding Congress member, received a lifetime achievement award for his services to local democracy in Croatia. After serving five terms as mayor, Mr Hanzek will stand down at the upcoming local elections in May 2025.

The Centre of Expertise at the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe has launched a call to national associations to seek accreditation to deliver ELoGE and will organise a workshop in Strasbourg on 25 April 2025. The Association of Cities is accredited to deliver ELoGE in Croatia and will share this experience with peers at this workshop.