Croatia is a candidate country for EU membership, and already a CEFTA member. This puts her in interesting position because the country has to adjust to all aspects that EU membership implies, and at the same time has to provide role model to other South East European countries that are following her path. Within all necessary criteria for EU membership, entrepreneurship is surely one of the key aspects. Business environment (legal system, corruption, labor regulation) and financing are very significant for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Various problem types between SMEs and large enterprises surely determine their finance pattern. Business environment in each country is also cause of different finance structures, and especially affects the usage of external and internal funds. This article shows strategic and comparative analysis of SMEs different finance patterns between Croatia, new EU members and South East European Countries (SEE), with emphasis on external financing funds and their structure.

Ekonomija