Croatian Regional Policy Fostering Competitiveness

Abstract

An obstacle for the implementation of a modern regional policy in Croatia is the inherited concept of the reconstruction of war-affected areas. This concept is no longer appropriate for the needs of a modern regional policy, which should be formulated, among others, also in the context of the EU accession. This is particularly important considering that the EU emphasizes that member states should be in the position to withstand competitive pressures in the single market as a key condition for accession. And regional policy has a particular role in this regard. In this article the main obstacles for a modern regional policy in Croatia are discussed, particularly from the point of view of achieving economic competitiveness. It is necessary to tackle these problems and obstacles through a number of measures and initiatives from both the central and the regional level, which are discussed in this paper.