Croatia in the EU

A round table on Croatia’s future in the European Union held at VERN'

The signing of the Treaty of Accession into the European Union, a two-day gathering, organized by the Miko Tripalo Centre for Democracy and Law, entitled “Croatia in the European Union: how to move on” was held at VERN’, gathering renowned individuals from the political and scientific fields.

The VERN’s dean, Goran Radman, opened the gathering, after which the participants analyzed the Croatian legal and political system and its similarities  with the European systems. The discussion included numerous topics that are important for positioning Croatia within the EU framework, such as foreign policy, justice, labor market, decision-making in the EU, macro-economy, energy, demographics, education, and cultural heritage.

The future foreign affairs minister in the new government, Vesna Pusić, concluded that Croatiaćs first goal in the European Union must be increasing our influence, which we must achieve by participating in developmental projects, in which we may play a partner role. She added that Croatia was always perceived as the leader of stability in the region. “Although we are a small country, we may build its size and credibility on proposing and implementing good policies, such as,  Finland,"  stated Vesna Pusić.

When presenting the demographic indicators in Croatia, Anđelko Akrap, explained how the length of a life span influences employment trends and the pension system, and how public services need to adapt to this. He pointed out that negative demographic data may not be corrected only through the immigration policy, because in that case Germany would have the best indicators. In  Akrap’s opinion Croatia needs to design a good-quality entrepreneurial and family policy in order for the young to find jobs faster and become independent and have families of their own more easily.

The participants at the gathering pointed out once more that our accession to the European Union does not bring improvements automatically, but only creates preconditions for a more successful and faster growth and development of the society.