EUROPEAN UNION PRE-ACCESSION FUNDS USAGE IN THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

The fundamental purpose and objective of this paper was to explore all the relevant features of the usage degree regarding resources from the European Union pre-accession funds in the Republic of Croatia, taking into account the characteristics and specifics of each fund. Taking into account the importance of this topic for the Republic of Croatia during its preparations for the full membership in the European Union we came to the conclusion that Croatia has so far successfully used the pre-accession funds of the European Union. Specifically implementation, performance and efficiency is high as evidenced by the fact that the Government of Croatia has assumed control of one part of the Union’s preaccession funds, although Republic of Croatia still is not at the level of preparedness that would provide full usage of funds, bearing in mind the opinion of the European Commission. Also, the problem is that citizens, despite all efforts, know little about the pre-accession funds and the European Union as well as they know little about the efforts of the state administration in order to well use this type of pre-accession help. Structural changes that are necessary in order for the Republic of Croatia to join the European Union are very expensive and it is the fact that these funds offer substantial financial and technical help in the process of accession. To achieve efficient usage of pre-accession funds, to make necessary changes more energetically, and the entry into the Union as clear and transparent, a need to put the emphasis on education of croatian society regarding the European Union and what the membership in it brings is certainly necessary. Also, it is necessary to have well trained people who know how to work in a manner compliant with the European procedure. Also, cooperation between different bodies of state administration is important, which will also be required in the later usage of resources from the so-called access funds. Well prepared projects are also required to effectively withdraw resources from the pre-accession funds. Ability of withdrawal and the amount of resources used up depends on this, in addition that funding from the budget of the European Union does not come until a complete and very well organizational level is established. Pre-accession funds will certainly help speed up the economic growth and development of the Republic of Croatia attracting new investments, increasing export, increasing employment and reducing debt with the continuous improvement of economic indicators.