06 May 2022 - Europe Day 2022 celebrates unity in Europe and the official date, the 9th of May, marks the anniversary of the historic Schuman declaration.

The 9th of May is Europe Day, and it commemorates the first move towards the creation of what has today become the European Union. This celebration recalls the importance of the role played by Robert Schuman in the start of the Coal and Steel Community and the integration process that this has triggered. 

In his historic speech, made on 9 May 1950, Robert Schuman proposed the establishment of a new form of cooperation between the countries of a European continent ravaged by the disastrous effects of two world wars.

In these challenging times, it is crucial to reappraise Schuman's life in order to take inspiration from the vision, values, and experiences of a man who sought to bring together all people of Europe under two fundamental principles: peace and solidarity. 

Image: @European Commission/ Twitter account

This celebration also provides an opportunity to reflect on the current and real situation, which changes daily. It is a day when people can acknowledge the achievements in their everyday lives, in a European Union based on rule of law principles, popular sovereignty, and values that are now accepted and shared by the vast majority of European people. The meaning of the celebration lies in its commemoration of the path that allowed to consolidate these principles and values without taking for granted every achievement.

In honour of the pioneering work of Robert Schuman toward a united Europe, the area housing the headquarters of several European Union institutions in Brussels is named after him.

The Fabric of Europe is a work of art born from real data-weaving representing the construction of the European Union and the governance of the Council of the European Union. You can find more here. (Image: Total Croatia News)

This year, the Open Day will take place on the 7th of May. For those in Brussels, tomorrow you can visit the buildings of the European Commission, the Council of the EU, and the European Parliament from 10:00 to 18:00. On-site, you will find general information about the EU with areas dedicated to the environment, digital transformation, and youth, with many games and activities for the whole family. 

There will also be several live events online on social media for those who cannot be present. 

Learn more about Europe Day and events here and also from this Factsheet.

Online and in-person events at the Council UE, European Commission, and the European Parliament

Explore also all the activities organised in Croatia by the Representative Office of the European Commission.

We would like to remember also that the year 2022 marks the European Year of Youth and the importance of young Europeans in achieving a better future, seeking to be greener, digital-friendly, and healthier. And if you are looking for more information about activities taking place in Croatia, contact the National Coordinator from the EU Member States by accessing this link.  

Enjoy all the activities during this European weekend all over Europe. 

ZAGREB, 13 Feb 2022 - EU citizens attending the Conference on the Future of Europe on Sunday called for establishing a joint EU army, taking decisions on foreign policy issues by qualified majority, and adopting a common migration policy.

A total of 184 citizens from all EU member states met in Maastricht on Friday and Saturday to formulate through smaller working groups, policy proposals on the topic "EU in the world and migration". They voted on the proposals on Sunday, with a majority vote of 70% being required for their adoption. Only six of 46 recommendations were not adopted.

EU citizens called for establishing joint EU armed forces and also called for changing the way decisions on foreign policy issues are made.

Currently each member-state has a right of veto and EU citizens recommended making decisions by qualified majority, which is a major bone of contention between the proponents and opponents of further EU integration.

Its opponents believe it is a step towards turning the EU into a federation where the strongest members would be able to impose their own will more easily, while its proponents stress that unanimous decision-making prevents the EU's affirmation as a global actor comparable with the USA and China.

Still, they propose that one should continue to make decisions on the admission of new members and changes to the Treaty on EU unanimously.

On the issue of EU enlargement, citizens concluded that it was necessary to consolidate the EU's identity before new members joined.

They also proposed facilitating the introduction of sanctions against member-states, organisations and individuals violating the Treaty on EU.

In favour of common migration policy

EU citizens also advocated a common EU migration policy based on solidarity. They also called for replacing the Dublin Regulation with a new legally binding regulation to secure a just, balanced and proportional distribution of asylum-seekers.

They recommended establishing a single European mechanism for the import of labour outside of the EU in line with market needs, as well as strengthening the border protection agency, Frontex, and reviewing its work so far.

They underlined the need for greater transparency to prevent abuse in the treatment of migrants.

EU citizens also proposed greater production subsidies in the European farm, health and digital sectors, as well as in environmental protection technologies. They also recommended reducing dependence on natural gas and oil, and instead make larger investments on public transportation infrastructure and alternative energy sources such as hydrogen.

They called for restricting imports from countries that tolerate child labour, as well as greater control of possible human rights violations in the production of imported goods. They also proposed introducing "eco-rating" for all products to include the level of CO2 emissions from production and transport, the level of harmful substances, etc.    

Previously, as part of the Conference and after a panel debate in Warsaw, citizens adopted conclusions on health and climate policies, while at their first December panel in Florence they put forward policy proposals from the area of EU values and security.

The last panel will be held in Dublin, and recommendations from 800 EU citizens, chosen randomly by market research agencies to reflect the EU's demographic and socioeconomic structure, will be considered by European institutions at a joint plenary session.

A total of 80 citizens, 20 each from the Conference's four panels, will discuss the proposed policies with members of the European Parliament, representatives of EU governments and parliaments, European commissioners, representatives of unions, employers, civil society and others, at the plenary session of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

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ZAGREB, 1 Jan 2021 - France took the six-month rotating EU presidency from Slovenia on Saturday.

The French chairmanship comes during a key period for French President Emmanuel Macron, who is expected to run for reelection in April. Recently, Macron unveiled Paris' priorities for the French EU presidency: sovereignty, the defense policy, the Western Balkans, economic growth. The EU presidential trio led by France includes also the Czech Republic that will preside over the EU in the second half of 2022, and Sweden in the first half of 2023.

Slovenia's achievements

A few days ago, just before the completion of Slovenia's chairmanship, Interior Minister Aleš Hojs said that the agreed conclusion of all EU member states that Croatia is ready to join the Schengen zone was one of the two biggest achievements of his country's presidency of the Council of the EU.

Speaking at a press conference about the results of the Slovenian presidency of the EU, Hojs said that the second important achievement was the adoption of a joint statement on Afghanistan after the Taliban again took power in that country.

The statement reaffirmed Slovenia's position that another mass wave of migrants into Europe, similar to one that followed the outbreak of war in Syria, must not be allowed again, that the migration problem should be tackled in countries adjacent to Afghanistan, and that the families of Afghans who had cooperated with the EU and its institutions should be transferred to Europe.

For more on politics, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 20 Dec 2021 - President Zoran Milanović believes that Prime Minister Andrej Plenković didn't make a mistake by going to Sarajevo but he should have used a mechanism at Croatia's disposal in Brussels to block the adoption of the conclusions by the Council of the EU concerning Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"Plenković didn't make a mistake by going to Sarajevo but he did make a mistake when he did not, consciously or intentionally, use the mechanism that Croatia has at its disposal in Brussels and that is to block the adoption of the conclusions that are in contradiction to Croatia's starting positions," Milanović said in a statement after attending a ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Dr. Franjo Tuđman Military Academy. 

Plenković visited Bosnia and Herzegovina last Monday. Several days later Milanović criticized the government's support to the Council's conclusions on enlargement because the final document does not mention the constituent states and the legitimate political representation of Croats in BiH. 

Today he said that the time has come to replace Croatia's Ambassador to Brussels, Irena Andrassy.

Milanović on Sunday canceled his visit to Travnik and Nova Bila, Bosnia and Herzegovina for security reasons, but today he would not discuss the security threats in question. He said he would visit Bosnia and Herzegovina some other time and that "no moral rabble-rousers would stop him."

"I cannot be friends with everyone, especially not with the unitarist clique in Sarajevo who are posing as patriots, and I will oppose them," Milanović said.

He said that the Serb member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency, Milorad Dodik, is provoking those people and that he can understand his behavior. "I understand such behavior, but I do not encourage it. Realistically, Dodik can do nothing to them. He doesn't have two long barrels, which is good in this situation. He is provoking them, but he is dealing with people who are professional liars who would rob an entire community, Croats in BiH. Well, that just won't go," said Milanović.

He criticized the Croatian government for not doing enough to protect the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The government is ignoring its job and what it has at its disposal. Those are diplomatic measures to protect state interests, in this case, the Croats in BiH", said Milanović.

"Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot exist without Croats. They are the smallest constituent group, but they tip the scales for the country's survival. If after all that a handful of unitary rabble-rousers, moral usurers don't like me, that's fine," Milanović said.

He said that nearly 200,000 Croats remained in the Lašva valley. "If you talk to them, they are more for BiH than the Croats in Herzegovina - naturally. We are talking about that political community. They are loyal to Bosnia and Herzegovina," said Milanović.

For more on politics, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 7 Dec, 2021 - The Council of the European Union on Monday agreed a common position on two draft laws - on pay transparency and on adequate minimum wages in the EU. 

The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council, which was attended by the Croatian Minister for Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy, Josip Aladrović, agreed the common position based on which member states will negotiate with the European Parliament the final texts of the two laws.

The proposal on pay transparency should help tackle the existing pay discrimination at work and close the gender pay gap. It aims to empower workers to enforce their right to equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through a set of binding measures on pay transparency.

Member states agreed that employers have to make sure their employees have access to the  objective and gender-neutral criteria used to define their pay and career progression.

In accordance with national laws and practices, workers and their representatives have the right to request and receive information on their individual pay level and the average pay levels for workers doing the same work or work of equal value, broken down by sex. Employers also need to indicate the initial pay level or range to be paid to future workers – either in the job vacancy notice or prior to the conclusion of the employment contract. 

The gender pay gap in the EU stands at around 14%, which means that women earn on average 14% less than men per hour. There are a number of inequalities underlying this pay gap. Women are overrepresented in relatively low-paying sectors such as care and education, the so-called glass ceiling leads to their underrepresentation in top positions, and in some cases women earn less than men for doing equal work or work of equal value.

The Council also agreed on a proposal for a directive on adequate minimum wages in the EU.

The aim of the directive is not to harmonise the level of minimum wages within the EU or set a uniform European minimum threshold, because the Union does not have jurisdiction over such matters. The aim is to establish minimum conditions for setting adequate minimum wages based on clear and stable criteria which would be updated in a regular and timely manner, as well as to ensure the inclusion of social partners. In most EU member states minimum wages are not adequate.

All 27 member states have minimum wages. In 21 of them, including Croatia, they are regulated by law, while in six countries (Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Italy and Sweden) they are agreed through collective bargaining.

Countries with a high collective bargaining coverage tend to have a smaller share of low-wage workers and higher minimum wages than those with low collective bargaining coverage. That is why ministers agreed that countries should promote strengthening the capacity of social partners to engage in collective bargaining. If their collective bargaining coverage is below 70%, they should also establish an action plan to promote collective bargaining.

Croatia is far from 70%

Minister Aladrović said that Croatia is relatively far from the 70% threshold as its collective bargaining coverage is estimated at between 30% and 35%.

"Nevertheless, I am confident that we will attain this threshold of 70%. It is attainable, especially in the private sector. In Croatia, collective bargaining is mostly linked to the state and public sector and not the private sector, where at this point we have one expanded collective agreement," he said.

Aladrović said that Croatia would strengthen collective bargaining through the amended Labour Act, which is now under preparation.

"It includes a number of provisions aimed at strengthening collective bargaining, which is important to protect workers and make employment more certain. This is also important to employers so that they can make long-term plans," he said, adding that this would also have an indirect effect on increases in average and minimum wages.

"I am quite sure that we will attain the planned level of average and minimum wages before the time indicated in the government programme," Aladrović said.

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ZAGREB, 27 Nov, 2021 - Migrations towards Europe are definitely a problem that needs to be discussed, but so should migrations within the European Union, it was said at the opening of the fourth panel discussion of the Conference on the Future of Europe, taking place from Friday to Sunday.

Faced with a drop in citizens' trust, the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of the EU in September and October invited 800 randomly selected EU citizens to discuss topics important for the 27-member bloc in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. A group of 200 citizens will discuss migrations and the status of the EU in the world at the fourth panel, taking place from Friday to Sunday.

Dragan Volarević, a pensioner from Zadar and one of the three Croatians participating in discussions this weekend, called for putting on the agenda the topic of migration of people from eastern to western EU members.

"Around 10% of Croatians have emigrated, mostly young and highly educated people who are needed in every country. I was surprised the most by the fact that the first person to support me was a young Dutchman who is also interested in this topic even though his country does not have the problem of emigration of young people," Volarević told Hina.

He believes that the EU should help countries like Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania create favourable conditions for young people to stay and work in their countries.

As for immigration from third countries, participants in the panel agreed that EU countries should show solidarity with refugees and migrants.

Migration is a burning issue across Europe, notably Mediterranean countries, as well as in Poland, Great Britain and on the border between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

We must avoid human losses if we want to call ourselves civilised countries but we are not doing enough to define concrete solutions, said Antonio from Italy.

For solutions to be defined, politicians should listen more, says Volarević, who described his experience at the first panel session in Strasbourg last month.

"During debates in working groups, members of the European Parliament had answers prepared in advance, and while presenting them they spoke of different, often unrelated topics, without keeping track of time, which is why only two citizens had the opportunity to speak," he said.

The second panel session, dedicated to migrations and global politics, was held online. Ten sub-topics were presented at it on Friday, of which five are related to migrations while the other fire have to do with the status of the EU in the world, and they will be discussed in greater detail by working groups on Saturday.

As regards migrations, EU citizens will work on recommendations on border control, on how to respond to illegal border crossings, how to facilitate access to official border crossings, how to integrate migrants in the labor market and education system, and how to facilitate the acquisition of EU citizenship.

With regard to the EU's status in the world, the discussion will focus on the EU's external policy which is in line with its values, such as promotion of democracy and human rights, changes in decision-making in the field of external policy so that the EU can define itself as a global power and strengthen the common foreign policy, on European defence forces, policy towards Russia and China, and the strengthening of trade.

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ZAGREB, 21 Nov, 2021 - Addressing an informal online meeting of EU tourism ministers last Tuesday, Croatian Tourism and Sports Minister Nikolina Brnjac spoke about a new Croatian reforestation plan that is being launched by three ministries.

In line with the Paris Agreement, the EU has pledged to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and of the numerous projects to be launched by the Croatian government, one of the first projects is related to tourism. A reforestation project for the period until 2030 is expected to result in the planting of around one million trees every year to compensate for a portion of the greenhouse gas emissions caused by tourists arriving by car, said Brnjac.

The reforestation project is being launched by the Tourism and Sports Ministry in cooperation with the ministries of economy and sustainable development and agriculture.

Brnjac also said that the making of a joint long-term plan of work of the EU must be accompanied by the availability of specific and continued EU funds for the sustainable development of tourism.

The informal meeting of EU tourism officials, held as part of the Slovenian presidency of the Council of the EU, focused on plans for activities and the adoption of a European Agenda for Tourism 2030-2050.

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ZAGREB, 17 Oct, 2021 - European Commission Vice-President Dubravka Šuica of Croatia believes Croatians are insufficiently interested in participation in the Conference on the Future of Europe, launched by the EU to convince citizens of its 27 member-states that their opinion, too, is important in decision-making.

Numerous citizens believe they have no influence on decisions made by EU politicians and bureaucrats so the EU's three main institutions - the European Commission, the Council of the EU and the European Parliament - have launched an online platform where citizens can offer their proposals on topics important for the bloc.

"More is expected of Croatia and Croats because so far they have reported 25 events and made 500 proposals and around 100 comments on our platform," Šuica, Commissioner for Democracy and Demography, told the Yammat FM radio station.

She considers these figures to be low.

"We (Croatians) like to speak when it is too late," she said, calling on Croatian citizens to present their ideas on the Conference on the Future of Europe website.

Debates can be organised by citizens and groups of citizens at county and local levels and conclusions can be reported on the digital platform by the end of the year.

"Their ideas will be taken into account in an analysis next spring," Šuica promised.

On Friday, she opened in Strasbourg the last of four panels at which randomly chosen EU citizens discuss topics relevant for the EU.

Among the 200 EU citizens whose travel and accommodation expenses as well as daily allowances have been paid for are three Croatians - two pensioners and a student, from Istria and Zadar- They will present their opinions on the EU in the world and migration at the panel, to last until Monday.

In September and October, 800 EU citizens have taken part in the panels, after which additional online panels will follow. Their proposals are expected to be formulated into a proposal to the European Commission in spring.

Šuica claims that the EC will take those proposals into account, mostly when making laws.

"The main purpose of this conference is to debunk the myth about the Brussels bubble and make EU citizens participants in the creation of European policies, so they can see that they themselves can influence the final outcome," she said.

"Until now people thought that that was not possible or happened only here. That's not true but such is the perception," she said.

Fifty-eight percent of Croatians do not trust the EU and only 38% trust it, shows a survey by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, conducted in September 2020.

On average, 47% of EU citizens trust the EU while 45% do not.

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August 31, 2021 - Due to the increase in infections and delays in the vaccination process, some countries, including the US, would be removed from the safe list of several European countries, on the recommendation of the EU Council. Should Croatia follow these measures?

HrTurizam writes that national representatives of the Council of the European Union met yesterday, Monday afternoon, to discuss and update the EU's safe travel list, a process that takes place every two weeks.

The EU Council has decided to remove six countries from the list: Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, and the United States, claiming that their current coronavirus infection rate exceeds the agreed threshold of 75 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days.

The US vaccination campaign has stalled in recent months and has lagged significantly behind EU vaccination efforts. More than 57% of the EU population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, compared to 52% in the United States. The U.S. has more than 1,000 new cases a day, the highest level since March.

Removal from the EU safe list means that trips that are not important again become subject to temporary travel restrictions, such as testing, quarantine, or a total ban.

However, compliance with the recommendations is not mandatory. Some EU countries have the right to decide unilaterally whether to keep their borders open to US travelers. On the other hand, America still does not allow European travelers free entry into the country.

The presence of American tourists in Croatia has been positive in the August statistics so far, and even September arrivals are still expected. At the moment, the United States is on Croatia's safe list, which means that that the travelers arriving from the USA do not have to provide any reason for their travel in order to enter Croatia. They will be required to prove that they’ve been vaccinated or have recovered from COVID and that they haven’t spent any significant time outside of the “green countries”.

Follow the latest flights to Croatia HERE and the latest travel updates and COVID-19 news from Croatia HERE.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.