engleski

Is Croatian regional development strategy in line with EU regional policy?

The situation in Croatia today is that while “balanced regional development” is one of key government priorities, there is no clear definition what this means. There is a fragmented listing of regions deemed to have special problems without, on the face of it, any coherent profile of those development needs. The Regional development strategy will seek to address these issues. The implications, therefore, for approach to the analysis of regional policy in Croatia today is that concentrate essentially upon three main fields of enquiry from two perspectives – top-down and bottom-up. These are: • Assessment of the overall policy framework for regional development, including the current legal framework in particular policies, legal acts and regulations which affect the development of those parts of the country which can be loosely termed “assisted areas”. • Assessment of the institutional and administrative capacity in place. • Appraisal of the types of regional development instruments currently deployed and their effectiveness in dealing with development needs at national, regional and local level. The strategy sets the context for balanced regional development both at national and sub-national level as well as draws attention to development needs of the ‘assisted areas’ as well as counties highlighting their different development profiles. It brings together the main analytical parts: policy framework, institutional context and finally an assessment of the existing development interventions on county, NUTS 2 and assisted areas level. As Croatia actively prepares for accession to the EU, it is crucial that it is well prepared for the implementation of EU regional policy issues. It means that national documents and new adopted legislation should be in line with EU legal framework and procedures. In the paper will be analyzed complementarities between Croatian and EU legislation, with emphasize on Croatian regional development strategy issues.

balanced regional development; regional policy; NUTS2; development strategy issues

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