When Croatia made the e-Građani age check mandatory for webshops that sell alcohol, the government had to explain why the rule is not discriminatory. The explanation is in the bill itself, PZ 303, sent to the Sabor on 14 May 2026, and it is one paragraph long.
Foreign nationals, it says, can obtain a Croatian OIB and use e-Građani too, so there is “ni izravne niti neizravne diskriminacije prilikom kupnje”: no direct or indirect discrimination when buying.
The Analysis Stops at the Buyer
The bill looks at who can pass the check. It does not look at who has to run it, and that is where the imbalance sits. A Croatian webshop selling a bottle of wine has to integrate e-Građani, register with the Ministry of Economy and refuse the sale if the customer does not complete the check. An Austrian or German shop selling the same bottle to the same customer in Zagreb carries none of that. Foreign sellers do not appear anywhere in the reasoning. We explained what this means for Croatian shops in our guide to the age check.
The Consultation Raised It
The public consultation ran from 6 March to 5 April and received 19 comments. The ministry’s report on it is attached to the bill. One came from a university professor writing about the wine sector, with around 1,600 registered producers, mostly small family businesses. The comment warned that the check would make buying harder, weaken domestic webshops against foreign ones and push customers towards large international platforms. It was not accepted. The reply was the standard paragraph about minors and checkboxes, used for almost every other comment as well.
Hrvatska pošta asked for a longer implementation period. That was rejected too, on the grounds that the solution does not require complex IT work on webshops. The first figures tell a different story: in the first ten days, only 24 percent of age checks started on Croatian webshops were completed. The numbers are here.
No Cost, According to the Bill
Section III of the bill states that no additional funds from the state budget are needed. That is technically true. The development, 30,000 euros, was paid from NPOO, EU recovery money, under an existing maintenance contract.
So the official reasoning is: no discrimination, because a buyer from abroad could get an OIB; no real burden, because the integration is simple; no cost, because the EU paid. Each point holds only as long as the seller is left out of the picture.
Protecting minors is the right goal. A rule that binds only Croatian businesses, on a market where foreign shops sell into Croatia freely, deserves more than one paragraph about buyers, especially when the consultation pointed it out.
We are still waiting for the Ministry of Economy’s answers to two freedom of information requests sent on 24 September. The deadline was 9 October; even with the maximum extension, it runs out on 24 October. We will publish the answers when they arrive.
What It Means for You
If you sell alcohol or energy drinks online from Croatia, the check is the law today, whatever the bill’s reasoning. Run it before payment, explain the step to buyers before they reach the checkout, and get the ministry’s position on deliveries abroad in writing. If the rule costs you sales, say so with your own numbers in the next consultation and through HGK or HUP. If you want us to look at your checkout, book a 20-minute call. If your shop already handles it well, we will tell you that too.