Even though the process of EU project preparation and implementation in Croatia has improved significantly, difficulties still exist and further action is needed to make it faster and simpler, speakers at a conference on challenges and opportunities in the new EU programming period said on Tuesday.

EU funds offer a major opportunity for investment in innovation and creation of added value for entrepreneurs, and they can help achieve, in a short period of time, the level of profitability and competitiveness as that of their peers on the European market, Croatian Employers Association (HUP) director Irena Weber said.

That is why in its proposal for ten key reforms for this decade HUP puts emphasis on the redistribution of EU funding to benefit private investments, as well as on achieving the goals of the green transition, she said.

Natalija Zielinska, president of HUP EUPRO, the HUP group bringing together prominent consulting firms specialising in EU project preparation and implementation, said that project preparation and implementation in Croatia has improved significantly but that there are still many shortcomings.

Uniform procedures

She particularly called for defining uniform procedures for project preparation and implementation.

Zielinska, who is a Pole, said that her country is the leader in terms of absorption of EU funds, which, she said, is primarily owing to the fact that the public at large is involved in the process of programming and adopting key decisions and strategies.

She noted that, for example, Croatia did not have such an approach when its National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) was planned.

Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Sime Erlic said that five to six calls for applications by entrepreneurs could be expected by the end of the year, as part of the 2021-2027 financial perspective, and that they would refer to innovation vouchers, investments in industrial transition, clusters, etc.

The conference, held on the occasion of Europe Day, was organised by EUPRO, the HUP Association of EU Funds Professionals.