Regional Development

Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds is in charge of the implementation of the policy for balanced regional development whose aim is to further develop the less developed regions in the Republic of Croatia and reduce the regional development imbalances at national level thereof. The regional development is one of the European Union most important guidelines, obviously on the grounds that EU, through the so-called EU cohesion policy, allocates one third of its budget to the EU regions whose development is lagging behind. In Croatia, the policy for balanced regional development includes the activities of planning, implementation and coordination of regional development policy and the establishment of an integrated system for programming, management and financing of regional development.

 

Adoption of the Law on regional development, and the Strategy on regional development of the Republic of Croatia afterwards, laid the foundations for regional development policy management directed towards strengthening the overall development potential within Croatia.

 

The Directorate for Regional Development is responsible for creating conditions and carrying out the activities aimed at planning, implementation and evaluation of development programmes tailored for developing the units of local self-government, counties and wider regions, encouraging the development of cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation, as well as for preparing the strategic and operational documentation and the projects for the use of EU funds and all other international sources of funds for regional development initiatives. 

 

In order to both reduce the imbalances in development between certain areas and to assist the creation of preconditions for sustainable economic and social development, the measures and programmes grounded on partnership and solidarity are being implemented in the field of construction and modernization of communal and social infrastructure.