Remember the ambitious project for the development of Croatia until 2030? This is what his website looks like after three years
The relevant Ministry confirmed that the draft National Development Strategy, which was supposed to be in the Parliament in March, was "almost completed"
LAST CHANGE: JUN 13, 2020
PHOTO: PIXSELL
In December 2017, the Government of Andrej Plenković started ambitiously. We have a plan, we have a goal, we have knowledge, and together we can create the Croatia we want, said the then Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds Gabrijela Žalac . Citizens also participated in the creation of Croatian development - a special page was opened for them where they could share their vision of Croatia until 2030.
In three weeks, Croatia will go to the parliamentary elections. The Croatian Parliament was dissolved almost four weeks ago, and before that it did not vote on the National Development Strategy until 2030, "the most important strategic document of development", as it was once called by Government officials. A special page, through which citizens could present their ideas, has been "under construction" for days.
STUCK LAST YEAR
The proposed strategy - which the former minister once said would "make us know exactly what kind of Croatia we want for the first time" - was due to be presented to parliamentarians in March this year. This arises from the Act on the System of Strategic Planning and Development Management of the Republic of Croatia. "The government will send the proposal of the National Development Strategy until 2030 for adoption to the Parliament by March 1, 2020," the law reads.
Last year, however, it was already quite clear that he was stuck somewhere with the drafting of a strategic document. In May 2019, Jutarnji list made an extensive analysis in which, among other things, they found that only two meetings of expert working groups had been held so far, which were to define concrete measures for the decade of development.
IT'S OVER - ALMOST
When Gabriela Žalac was replaced by Marko Pavić , the adoption of Croatia's development strategy in the next decade was among his priorities. "One of my goals is to complete the drafting of the NRS by the end of the first quarter of next year, " Pavic told Glas Slavonije at the end of August last year. He took over the department of regional development and EU funds a month and a half earlier, after a major ministerial dismissal in Plenković's government in which Žalac left office.
However, the key development document is not yet complete. This was confirmed to us this week at the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds. "The draft National Development Strategy until 2030 is almost complete, we are still working on its harmonization with the changed priorities at the level of the European Union and the Republic of Croatia, which are a consequence of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the devastating earthquake. In addition, the Strategy is harmonized with the priorities of the multiannual financial framework for the period 2021-2027 and the new European Union recovery plan ", replied Minister Pavić.
The strategy was supposed to be ready and sent to the parliamentary procedure a few weeks before Zagreb and its surroundings were hit by the earthquake. But when that hasn’t already happened, aligning the document with the new needs that result from that quake still makes sense, because the damage is enormous, and reconstruction could take years. However, it is less clear why Croatia's development plan for the next ten years should be aligned with the consequences of this year's pandemic.
KEY TO EU MONEY
The National Development Strategy is also crucial because it should serve as a basis for the use of EU funds in the coming period. EU members are currently negotiating the amount of money that will be available and how it will be spent, and this includes not only the new seven-year budget, but also the recovery fund, which the relevant Ministry also mentions in its answers. The government hopes that a total of 20 billion euros will be available to Croatia by 2027.
In February 2018, Minister Žalac revealed to journalists a somewhat unbelievable fact: in Croatia, she said, there are 200 national and more than 1,700 local and regional strategic documents. "It's impossible to manage in that way," she said. Given that elections are at the door, this unmanageable situation could, obviously, take some time.
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