Značaj Europskog semestra za reforme ekonomskih politika u Hrvatskoj i odabranim novim članicama EU-a. U: Višnja Samardžija (ur.). Izazovi provedbe europskih politika u Hrvatskoj. IRMO: Zagreb

Abstract

This paper analyses the significance of the European Semester for carrying out economic reforms in Croatia with the comparisons to the experiences of selected new European Union Member States. The purpose of the paper is to contribute to wider understanding of the European Semester. The starting points of the analytical approach are as follows: to investigate the aspects of the functioning of the European Semester at the EU level and its significance for the Member States, to analyse experiences of selected new Member States (including Croatia) and provide recommendations for the implementation of the European Semester in Croatia. In accordance with the POLO-Cro28 project methodology, new EU Member States in Croatia’s neighbourhood were selected for the purpose of the comparative analysis, namely the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia. Croatia shares similar economic challenges regarding economic and social issues with these countries. A further selection criterion was the equal representation of the euro-area countries (Slovakia and Slovenia) and countries that are not part of the euro-area (Czech Republic and Hungary). This paper is based on available comparative studies and academic articles, official EU documents and progress evaluations on reaching the country-specific recommendations within the European Semester (country reports), national reports (National Reform Programs and Stability or Convergence Programs) and other sources