ZAGREB, June 10, 2020 - Leader of the Restart Coalition and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Davor Bernardic on Wednesday announced that his government would work actively on a prompt transition towards a circular economy so that it reaches a share of 25% and by the end of the decade creates 100,000 jobs.
"Based on numerous indicators, Croatia is at the bottom in Europe in terms of the judiciary, corruption, living standards, the economy's competitiveness, absorption of EU funds, and in applying a circular economy," Bernardic warned while presenting the Restart Coalition's green development election platform.
"The share of circular use of the material is 4.4% whereas the average in the EU is 11.7%. We are eighth from the bottom with regard to ecological innovations and we account for just 38% of the EU average with regard to productivity in all sectors of the bio-economy or €13,000 in added value for each employee, while in the EU that is €41,000," said Bernardic.
The EU's New Green Deal is a key development document that foresees Europe's social and economic transformation by 2050, which means that Croatia has to work more intensively and faster on the transition from a linear to a circular economy by adopting and implementing the green transformation strategy, he underscored.
Considering that Croatia imports 50% of its food and energy, there is room in these sectors for green development and employing a large number of people, he added.
One of the first moves will be to adopt a Circular Economy Strategy which foresees the construction of 100 bio-composting and waste sorting plants and 50 smaller bio-gas units with EU funds.
He announced that the main source of green transformation funding would be from the EU's Horizon Europe fund, in addition to state and local government budgets, the Environment Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund, the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development and commercial banks, along with private investments and donations.
SDP green policy advisor Mirela Holy underlined that green transformation has to be the main paradigm of change and that the New Green Deal is the EU's key development document which entails large investments in energy efficiency.
