No. 3 / 2013 - AmCham

Chamber News›› The Environment andenergy Efficiencycommittee and ACEAMeeting with the Ministryof Environmental andnature ProtectionOn 18 July, the Environment and Energy EfficiencyCommittee and European AutomobileManufacturers Association (ACEA) helda meeting with Assistant Minister Obrdalj andDeputy Minister Dokoza to discuss the policyon the end-of-life vehicles (ELV).ACEA representatives presented experiencesfrom the European market and recommendedan individual model of ELV managementbased on market principles, since ELVsrepresent a highly valuable source of secondaryraw materials and thus have a highmarket value. The current fund model, whichinitially showed good results and reduced thenumber of improperly disposed ELVs, hasreached the stage where further developmentis needed as proposed in the new law.The Ministry has adopted a new law onwaste, which offers three models of wastemanagement: a fund, and collective and individualsystems. Representatives of the Ministryconfirmed that the manufacturer pays afee only once if it chooses the collective orfund system. Ministry representatives alsoannounced the drafting of an ordinance onspecial waste management within one yearof the adoption of the law. Manufacturershave suggested that in the meantime the feeis decreased from 0.85 to 0.45 kn/kg, due tolarge payments by the fund for incompletevehicles, which conflicts with the EU directiveon ELVs.AmCham and ACEA welcomed the Ministry’sdecision to include representatives ofthe AmCham Environmental Committee inthe working group for drafting the ordinanceon management of special categories ofwaste, and support the Ministry’s efforts tocooperate with other ministries in followingthe course of vehicles from first delivery tothe end of life. At the meeting, an exampleof a German certificate of destruction washanded to the Ministry’s representatives andit was suggested that such certification be introducedin Croatia.›› Supported event: “MBA Croatiaworkshop: NASA Experience – Teamleadership: Failure is not an Option”September 23Our member MBA Croatia has organized aworkshop ‘NASA: Failure is not an Option’ aboutcreating successful and efficient teams based on the experience gained intraining NASA astronauts by lecturer Dragos Bratasanu, an internationallyrenowned and award winning space scientist and consultant.This brief workshop presented the processes used by NASA to build itshighly successful technical teams and how other organizations in any otherindustry can implement this knowledge to trigger sustainable changeand increased performance in their teams. The information presentedhas boosted team performance in over 1,500 NASA project teams andFortune 500 companies, engineering teams, and management teams, includingthe people responsible for NASA’s most complex systems. Managingand improving the team social context is the key parameter thatdrives success or disaster in organizations.The participants learned how to improve engagement between divisionsby understanding their latent social signatures and by addressing theinterests in a way that can be easily accepted by other party and howto change the social context of relationships with important clients, toimprove performance and return.›› Trade & Investment CommitteeMeeting with Minister MrsićOn 25 July, AmCham’s Executive Director Andrea Doko Jelušić, PresidentIvan Vidaković (Microsoft Hrvatska), and Committee representativesBoška Trbojević (Coca-Cola HBC Hrvatska) and Dženet Garibović(PricewaterhouseCoopers) met with Minister Mrsić to present our ‘PositionPaper on Necessary Amendments to the Labor Act’. AmCham’s suggestionswere well accepted and the Minister stated his willingness tocontinue cooperation with AmCham on this issue. There are three majorgroups of changes that will be implemented in the new Law:1. Simplified termination of employment procedures and shortening ofstatutory deadlines and possibly notice periods2. Cost reduction through re-arranging work schedules3. Flexibilisation of work from home, part-time employment and temporaryagency work.Other notable changes are that the definition of a salary will not be in thelaw but will be regulated by the Ministry of Finance, and salary compensationduring sick-leave days will be specifically regulated by the Ministryof Health and the Croatian Health Insurance Fund.Also, a Labor Inspectorate will be constituted as a separate inspectorate,and no longer part of the General State Inspectorate.A public debate on the amendments to the law will be held during Septemberand October, and the Minister confirmed that he will be a speaker at theAmCham breakfast in October. After that the Law will be sent for parliamentaryprocedure at the end of October or the beginning of November.4 ISSUE 3/2013