Except from being the European Union's youngest member country, Croatia also seems to be among the most sceptical about its membership. According to the most recent data released by Eurobarometer, only 36 percent of Croatians think of the country's EU membership as positive, with nearly half of them saying they felt indifferent about it.

When Croatia raised the EU flag on July 1, 2013, its trade barriers were instantly lifted as it became part of a single market with more than 500 million people. Five years on, although businessmen and economists say that some benefits of that have materialised, they also say Croatia could have taken more advantage of its membership.

“I think we had exhausted ourselves with harmonising everything (before joining), so everyone came to view it as sort of an obligation. But in any case, the economic environment is much better today, and overall people are feeling better. But we have yet to understand what the advantages are of being part of a single market, not everyone has realised that by now,” said Dubravko Ranilovic, of Kastel Nekretnine real estate agency.

Although the common market at the same time means both a wealth of opportunities and a stronger competition, but overall Croatia profited from being in the bloc, said Danijela Pecevski from the international department at the Croatian Chamber of Economy (HGK). The structure of Croatia’s manufacturing sector hasn’t changed, but the country’s exports increased.

“(Since joining the EU) Croatia’s exports increased, as well as its foreign trade balance. Exports to EU countries rose by 70 percent compared to the time before joining,” said Danijela Pecevski from the international affairs sector of the HGK.

According to the Ministry for Regional Development, Croatia’s balance is in the black. Over five years of membership, the country paid into the EU’s budget some €2.1 billion, and drew out of it €3.2 billion, with a positive balance of around €1.1 billion.

But Croatia could have used its membership better, experts say. In spite of increase in contracts for EU funding earmarked for Croatia in EU’s 2014-20 budget period, Croatians cannot be pleased with the efficiency of drawing those funds for projects.

“We have currently signed contracts for only 45 percent of the €10.6 billion allocated to Croatia, and only about 10 percent has been paid out. Considering that we are now in the second half of 2018, this is a problematic situation,” said Ariana Vela, expert for EU funds.

The free movement and labour market is one of the benefits of EU membership, but estimates say that 150-200,000 people have left Croatia in the last five years, with only 62,000 moving in.

The idea of European Union, warns demographer Marin Strmota, is not to have people in lower income countries moving to higher income countries en masse.

“The problem is that this (emigration) seems to be long-term. Entire families are now leaving, not just individuals, and it creates huge strains on all (social) systems – health care, pensions, economically, fiscally – because the most vital, the most educated sections of the population are leaving, and with them, future generations,” Strmota told N1.

EU membership, in theory, is supposed to bring the growth of GDP, standard of living, and foreign investment, but in Croatia none of these things have happened merely by virtue of joining the club.

“The recession marathon lasted on until 2013 and 2014. Only then did we manage to turn the situation around, at the time when those first changes to income tax regulation were made, although we have seen no significant effects of it. What we did notice, however, was a mild increase in industrial production and exports. Obviously, Croatia’s problemy are deep, structural, and major improvements could not have been expected in such a short period of time,” Velibor Mackic of the Zagreb Faculty of Economics and Business said.

The disappointment with Croatia’s membership was also detected by Eurobarometer, which showed that merely 36 percent of Croatians polled thought that EU membership as positive for their country.

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