The role of regional policy in development of east Croatia: opportunities and potentials

Regional (or Cohesion) policy is one of the oldest and financially the most abundant policies of the European Union which aims to reduce development disparities between regions of Member States. Adoption of the Lisbon strategy in 2007 brought the reform of EU Regional policy which is to achieve the ultimate goal of balanced economic development of regions focused on those investments that are necessary for economic growth such as research and development, innovation, entrepreneurship, human resource development and information and communication technologies. Emphasis was placed on a new approach to Regional policy that integrates the different growth strategies at European, national and regional level, while strengthening the principles of partnership and involvement of regional and local levels since finds there the experience and expertise required for identifying problems and finding appropriate solutions. This paper will describe the process of integration for Croatian regions into the regional structure of the European Union within the existing institutional framework, when the readiness for long-term strategic planning of regional development for key development institutions in the Republic of Croatia at all levels is expected. The accession of Croatia into the EU opens up a situation for responsible thinking of development priorities and the preparation of appropriate project pipeline with a high level of readiness. Assuming that national level is qualified for the effective management of the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund, the effectiveness of using EU funds for financing development projects will certainly depend on quality of capacities for their preparation and implementation. The paper will give an overview of the main stakeholders and their efforts to build such capacities in the two most eastern Croatian counties pursuant to open opportunities through EU programmes and sustainable model of cooperation at the statistical NUTS 3 and NUTS 2 level, resulting in the preparation of projects of wider significance. Joint planning and operation of local and regional authorities, research institutions, development agencies and other organizations, businesses and civil society, becomes a necessary prerequisite to reach economic and social cohesion as the main objectives of regional policy.