Country Profile: Croatia

• Author: Naldini, Andrea; Pompili, Marco; Peruccacci, Eleonora
• Pages: 178-181

178

13. COUN TRY PROFI LE: CROATI A

13.1. Sect ion 1 - National r ules for t he evaluation of St ate aid schem es

13.1 .1 . Obligat ion or lack ther eof to evaluat e

In the Republic of Croatia, the Min ist ry of Finance is responsible for St at e aid policy ,

wh ich is being im plement ed based on the St ate aid Law ( OG 47 /2 014, 69/ 201 7). State

aid pr ov iders propose programmes that are monitored by t he Ministr y of Finance.

How ever, there is no for m al obligation, regulat ion or guideline referring t o the

evaluation of Stat e a id pr ogr amm es or int erv ent ions ( incl. ex-an te, interim or ex -post ).

On the gen eral level of pub lic p olicy , u p t o now, th ere was no n ationa l po licy eval uat ion

fr amewor k. Wi th t he adop ti on of th e n ew leg isla tiv e fra me wor k for t he nat io nal st rat egi c

planning syst em (including long-term str at egies, medium-term plans and shor t-term

pr ogrammes incorporating St ate aid in ter ventions, OG 123/20 17) , evaluations becam e

obligatory. This strategic planning law is accom panied by a Regulation on t he

im plementation of evaluation procedures ( OG 66/2019). The new planning syst em will

be in full function as of 2021. Th e Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds is

responsib le for this new planning syst em . Th e sam e Ministry is also in charge of the

coo rdi nat ion of ESI fun ds i n Cr oat ia, wh ere th e ev alu ati on o bli gat ion on pro gra mm e a nd

proj ect level is followed in accor dance with the overall Evaluation Strategy and

indiv idual ev aluat ion plans. There are four ESI -fund related operational program m es

that are accom panied by respective evaluation plans covering the pr ogram ming per iod

and a nu mbe r of t he dev elopm ent rela ted in ter ven tio ns co ver ing Stat e a id pr ogrammes

as well. Howev er, these evaluat ions do not cover State aid imp act evaluat ions.

An example w it h regard to the evaluation of a St at e aid progr am mes in Croat ia m ight

be the Law on State aid in R&D proj ects (OG 64/ 2018) , which ment ions in its glossary

in article 4 “ evaluat ion plan”. How ever, no referen ces are made to t he prepar at ion of

evaluation plans, nor to project s’ evaluations. This law is accom panied by Regulat ion

on Stat e aid for R&D projects covering also the project assessm en t process. I m pact

indicators for State aid measures are m entioned in the context of monitoring project

implement at ion. No St at e aid program m e evaluation is publicly available, and it is

un rea list ic to ex pec t th at im pa ct ev alua ti ons ha ve been d one , a s n o g uid eli nes on im pa ct

evaluation of St ate ai d progr amm es exist.

Wit h regard to env ir onment , en ergy or tr ansport sectors, ther e are no stipulat ions

refer ring t o St ate aid evaluat ion beyond t he EU relat ed program mes.

13.1. 2. Procedu res to en force t he obligation

There ar e no procedures t o en force obligat ion, since evaluation is not m andatory .

13.2. Sect ion 2 - National aut horit ies r esponsible for th e evaluat ion of State aid

13.2 .1 . Nation al organisat ion for Stat e aid