EUROPEAN UNION Committee of the Regions The Committee of the Regions welcomes Croatian territorial authorities Rue Belliard/Belliardstraat 101 _ 1040 Bruxelles/Brussel _ BELGIQUE/BELGÏE Tel. +32 2/282 22 11 _ Fax +32 2/282 23 25 www.cor.europa.eu Photo credits: Committee of the Regions’ archives, European Union; Zvonimir Frka-Petešić; City of Vodice; Croatian Employment Service – Office in Kutina; Darko Puharic, Design Studio D. © European Union, 2012 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. Printed in Belgium Table of contents Foreword by Mercedes Bresso, President of the Committee of the Regions . 3 Vesna Pusić, Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Bringing our experience to Europe . 4 Arsen Bauk, Croatian Minister of Public Administration Strengthening local institutions and promoting citizens’ involvement . 5 Vojko Obersnel, President of the Delegation of Croatian observers at the Committee of the Regions Local and regional authorities: actors of growth . 6 1. New Horizons: Croatia and the EU . 7 The road to EU membership . 7 Croatia at a local level . 8 Benefiting from EU regional policy . 9 Supporting Croatia in practice: success stories from the field . 10 2. A snapshot of the Committee of the Regions - the EU’s Assembly of Regional and Local Representatives . 13 3. Croatia and the Committee of the Regions: consolidating relations . 15 Croatian representatives work in the Committee of the Regions . 15 Getting to know the Croatian observers in the CoR . .. 17 Useful contacts . .. 20 1 2 Foreword Mercedes Bresso, President of the Committee of the Regions Croatia will be soon part of the European Union, becoming assembly in Europe to enjoy such enlargement . They will its 28th Member State, and the Committee of the Regions soon become full members and, also for this reason, we are shares this common joy . all looking forward to the 1 July 2013 . I am sure that their active engagement, in Brussels and at home, will make a dif- I in fact have an additional privilege: that of welcoming the ference, both for the Croatian local communities and for our variety of territories coming to enrich our institution . From Committee . the banks of the Danube river to the shores and islands of the Adriatic sea, Croatia’s towns, cities and counties are appreci- Croatia does indeed have a huge potential for demonstrat- ated across the world for their history, arts, natural beauty ing how local and regional development can flourish . At this and human talent . very moment, it can combine improved support from Eu- ropean regional policy with an update of its system of local We have come a long way along this road, thanks to passion and regional self-government . If reforms are accomplished, and hard work on the part of both the Croatian and the Eu- empowerment and decentralisation can become a strong ropean institutions . Most importantly, last January Croatia’s engine for the country, as well as an inspiring example for citizens voted for Europe . Reforms have been undertaken in others . all sectors, from the economy to administration, and the pro- cess of change is on-going, with its pains and gains . In this Membership of Croatia in the European Union does in fact context, it is often up to the Župans, or Mayors, to speak with send out a positive signal for the enlargement process as a local communities and to explain the benefits, but also the whole . I am confident that Croatia will fully play a role of po- duties, of joining and working within the European Union, litical advocate for the Western Balkans countries on the path finding solutions and seizing opportunities . to the European Union . In this regard, local and regional au- thorities can provide positive leverage, thanks to their well- This is indeed the role of each member of our Committee . established networks for cooperation in the region . For this reason, I am particularly proud that, already in Feb- ruary 2012, a delegation of nine Croatian observers joined It is my firm belief that working together brings discovery the Committee of the Regions, making it the first political and progress . Let us all make the most of it . 3 Bringing our experience to Europe Vesna Pusić, Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs After the accession treaty was signed in Brussels on whose diversity also forms a counterweight to the uniform- 9 December 2011, Croatia’s citizens voted by a decisive ma- ity of the globalisation process, this aim is becoming increas- jority in favour of membership of the European Union in a ingly important . referendum held in January 2012 . Thanks to the ratification Croatia’s regions are especially diverse: with one of the long- process that is making good progress in the Member States, est, most varied Mediterranean coasts, with the Danube area Croatia will thus become the 28th Member State of the Euro- and central European but also Mediterranean cities, it offers a pean Union on 1 July 2013 . Following long and complicated rich diversity of cultural heritage and landscapes . At the same negotiations, which were completed in June last year, Croatia time, this geographical location offers opportunities in en- is thus achieving one of its most important aims since inde- ergy and transport . The naturalness of Croatia’s wildlife and pendence . Precisely because of our experience of war in the not-so-distant past, we particularly value, amongst the many landscape enriches the environment and biodiversity of our advantages of EU membership, the fact that the Union has continent and makes it possible to grow organic food crops . ensured peace and stability for more than half a century in The famously beautiful landscapes of the Croatian coast, a large part of Europe . Similarly, EU membership means that with its more than a thousand islands, makes it a favoured Croatia supports and lives up to the European values – de- holiday destination . Precisely because of the diversity of its mocracy, tolerance, human rights . regions, Croatia can, as a central European and Mediterra- nean country, participate in wider regional partnerships such Over the last two years, and during the accession negotia- as the Danube Strategy, the Adriatic-Ionian initiative and the tions, Croatia has not only carried out reforms and prepara- Union for the Mediterranean . tions for membership, but has also progressed with its own institution-building and established itself as a state . In doing One of the most important factors for the smooth function- so, Croatia has amassed valuable and unique experiences ing of the state is regional and local administration and au- that have benefited not only its neighbours in the region, in tonomy . Because local authorities, being so close to the citi- which the country has a stabilising effect thanks to its great zen, are best placed to understand people’s needs and, on progress, but also the countries of the wider European neigh- the basis of the subsidiarity principle, to come into contact bourhood, in particular those of the southern Mediterranean . with them, it is very important that local and regional author- Thus, for example, at the seventh Croatia summit conference, ities should not only work together with their national gov- which will take place in Dubrovnik in July this year, we will be ernments, but should also express their views via their own discussing issues of state-building in the light of the experi- European institution, the Committee of the Regions . ence with European integration . The involvement of the Croatian observer delegation in the We also value the opportunity for Croatian regions and local Committee of the Regions is the continuation of the previous authorities to play an active role in shaping and implement- cooperation of Croatian local and regional authorities with ing EU cohesion policy . The aim of this policy is balanced their European partners . I am convinced that the Croatian development in Europe, where it and its instrument – the observers, who will become full members of the Committee Structural Funds – have been known for their successes for of the Regions next year, will use their experience to make a some time . In today’s globalised world, in which the regions successful contribution to the work of this important EU ad- are increasingly the drivers of international cooperation, but visory body . 4 Strengthening local institutions and promoting citizens’ involvement Arsen Bauk, Croatian Minister of Public Administration In the space of less than a year, Croatia has completed a num- tinue to be used . ber of steps in connection with European Union accession . As with any reform, we must also be prepared for difficul- Accession negotiations were completed on 30 June 2011, the ties and opposition . We anticipate that there will be differ- EU Accession Treaty was signed on 9 December 2011 and the ing views on the approach to reform and on the breadth of referendum on accession took place on 22 January 2012 . change that is necessary . The fact is that the current system There is clear political consensus that the European Union is of local and regional self-government has been in place for a part of Croatia’s present and future . Accession to the Euro- almost 20 years and that some people are in favour of radical pean Union involves major responsibilities for Croatia and its change, while others wish to leave everything as it is . That people, including further development or reform of impor- must not be treated as a reason to give up on change, but as tant state structures . One of the most important reforms to an incentive to gain the trust and support of the public . the state, society and the economy is the reform of local and regional self-government in connection with the process of We will therefore undertake a broad public consultation with decentralisation, as announced in the programme of the new all interested parties, in order to define three aspects of de- Croatian government .