Brexit. It's irritating, it sends pound sterling up and down like a rollercoaster, and quite frankly, it's become a farce.

Nevertheless, British PM Theresa May has somehow managed to get her Brexit deal past the first wobbly stages of acceptance (at least for now, which might still mean very little), and while we're still miles and miles away from the end of a road which may well simply have no actual end, what does the withdrawal agreement actually mean for citizens rights?

You don't want to read 500+ pages of political jargon to find out, so I've done it for you. Let's take a look at what has now been formally agreed between the United Kingdom and the European Union on the status of Croats in the United Kingdom, and British nationals living here in Croatia.

First things first, no, you're not getting kicked out after Brexit. There has been a lot of scaremongering and frankly ridiculous headlines from various newspapers, particularly British ones (naming no names here, but you know which I'm referring to), claiming such absurdities. You can breathe easily, not only are mass deportations barely legal, but such a move is in nobody's interest. Nobody wants to punish citizens for exercising their treaty rights in good faith.

What does this all mean for British nationals living in Croatia?

Believe it or not, but Croatia's love of residency cards for EEA nationals as well as third country nationals has actually come in handy. Countries like France and the UK don't demand you possess a card, so while Brits in France scramble to make themselves as known to the French Government as possible before Brexit, Brits in Croatia will already have been issued a bit of paperwork and a residency permit. The system already knows about you, and just this once, that's a good thing.

If you're a Brit and you've been living in Croatia, ie, exercising your treaty rights derived from EU law (freedom of movement), and continue to exercise them after Brexit day (which in this case, doesn't actually refer to the 29th of March, 2019, it refers to the end of the foreseen transition period, which is December the 31st, 2020), you're safe.

Here's an example, let's say you moved to Croatia in 2016 and you're still registered as living in Croatia, legally, with a residence permit, after the end of December 2020, you're safe and your rights will be protected as if nothing has altered. You'll go on living your life in Croatia broadly as you did before.

If you have temporary residency, which, as you applied for it as an EU national, will likely be proven with a five year biometric residency permit/card, then you'll be allowed to apply for permanent residency just as you would before, providing only what is asked of an EEA citizen, and not what would be asked of a third country national. If you already have permanent residency, then you've got literally nothing to even think about.

The EU has left it up to national governments to decide whether or not they want to scrap the ''permanent residency'' title for something else, as the UK has changed its own to ''pre-settled'' and ''settled status'', so if you're in possession of a permanent residency document and Croatia decides to alter its name, you'll have the card replaced free of charge to whatever the new system and name will be. The likelihood of Croatia altering this though, is not high, so don't worry about it.

Applications for permanent residency made during the UK's transition period (which it likes to refer to as the implementation period) will also remain the same, you'll only pay what nationals pay for other similar documents for your permanent residency card when approved, and the process will be the same as before.

You do not need to be physically present in the country on December the 31st, 2020, when the UK's transition period ends, in order to be legally resident, you only need to be in possession of a permit proving your residency in Croatia.

The only change, which is actually rather welcome, is that you'll be allowed to leave Croatia for up to five consecutive years without losing the right to permanent residency here. Previously, that was two years. So, essentially, unless you're out of the country for five years straight, you'll enjoy permanent residency for life, renewing the card as normally every ten years like you do with a passport.

It's worth remembering that Croatia dropped the restrictions on the domestic labour market for British nationals when Britain dropped its restrictions on Croatian nationals, so you no longer need a work permit to work in Croatia as long as you have residency. Permanent residents have never needed one, nor do they now.

What does this mean for Croatian nationals in the United Kingdom?

To put it bluntly, not a lot.

There has been heightened anxiety about the issue of citizens rights from the very beginning of this long process we've come to know as Brexit, but they have always been a top priority for both the EU and the UK, and nobody wants to cause upset in people's lives.

If you're a Croat in the UK, you'll know that the UK doesn't require EU nationals to register with the government, unlike in Croatia and several other EU countries. The presentation of an EEA passport has been enough to prove your right to live in the United Kingdom, and for nationals of those countries who don't have labour market restrictions against them in the UK, that means you can work too.

The UK dropped its labour restrictions on Croatian nationals, and Croatia did the same, as mentioned, with Brits in Croatia. This means you can now look for work and gain employment without obtaining a work permit, a stay and work permit, or a work registration certificate.

What will change, however, is your need to be registered with the British Government before the 30th of June, 2021, but if you can do it before December the 31st, 2020, that's better. 

The British Government created an app (which doesn't work on iPhones. Ah, good old technology), where you'll prove your right to live and work in the UK and be issued with a status, either ''pre settled'' for those who have been in the UK for less than five years when applying, or ''settled status'' for those who have been in the UK for five years or more. You'll be allowed to stay in the UK if you're applying for ''pre settled status'' until you meet the criteria for ''settled status'', which is the same as Indefinite Leave to Remain.

Click here for more. Oh, and go and buy an Android phone.

Once you're approved with ''settled status'' which is essentially just permanent residence, you'll be allowed to leave the UK for five consecutive years without losing your status. Just like with Brits in Croatia, you do not need to be physically present in the country on December the 31st, 2020, when the UK's transition period ends, in order to be legally resident, you only need to be in possession of a permit (or whatever the UK decides to offer in this regard), proving your residency in the UK.

We at TCN sincerely hope this answers your questions about what the withdrawal agreement means for you, whether you're in Croatia or the United Kingdom. While the Brexit road is far from over, and questions as to whether it will even actually happen are more frequent than ever, you won't be being removed from your host countries.

If you want to find out more about residency in Croatia, click here. To keep up with more news on Brexit, and on Croatian and European politics, follow our dedicated politics page.

Whether it be big or small, investment in Croatia with the help of European Union funds continues to keep the country's offer competitive.

As Morski writes on the 17th of November, 2018, in one port area in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, the biggest investment cycle so far has begun. ​​Of the massive 150 million kuna investment, as much as 60 million kuna are the projects of the County Port Authority of Crikvenica, and works in Jadranovo, Crikvenica and Selce will begin next week, according to HRT Radio Rijeka.

The project's contractors are Crikvenica Construction and Rijeka BSK Commerce. The completion of the port extension has been announced in Crikvenica for eighteen months time, that in Selce will be done in five years, and in Jadranovo, the expected time limit is one year, with the overall desire for it to be completed before next summer.

Speaking generally, investment in Croatia is a hugely important step in continually improving the country's already rich offer, and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County has not launched such a large investment cycle in its coastal area ever, County Prefect Zlatko Komadin said. This year, 40 million kuna's worth of works began, while the rest of the investment cycle is expected to reach 150 million kuna in the next two years. Along the coast in the Crikvenica area, there also will be works on the ports of Unije, Susak, and Cres. The views of places and cities are changing, which is already evident in Njivice (Krk) and in Novi Vinodolski, and such changes will soon also be seen in Crikvenica, noted the prefect. Komadina also pointed out that they have withdrawn most possible European Union incentives for the upcoming works.

Nada Milošević stressed that as much as 101 million kuna is coming from EU funds. "The Ministry's contingency has been extended until February the 29th next year, so we're planning to run two more projects in addition to the Crikvenica project, involving Rab and Purpurela ports, part of the fishing port and the extension of the Baška port," said Milošević.

The director of ŽLU Crikvenica, Mario Kružić, announced that in Crikvenica, the existing pier will be extended by another sixty metres, and a new western breakwater of 130 metres in length will be built to protect the port from waves. Two existing gates will be built in Selce on Polača and Stari mul, which will be 100 metres longer. In Jadranovo, the plans are the construction of a new promenade of about 400 metres in length, and in Perčin port, the communal berths will be renovated, and in the concessioned area, nautical berths will be constructed. The plan also boasts an 80-metre deep breakwater pontoon, as well as the construction of two piers at lengths of sixty metres.

Work should begin next week, and Crikvenica's administration has asked tourists and citizens alike for their patience, as heavy machinery will be moving through the city streets.

Want to keep up with more news on investment in Croatia, EU funds and other big projects? Make sure to follow our business page for much more.

Click here for the original article by Neva Funcic for HRT Radio Rijeka

Croatian emigrants dotted all around the world sent a huge amount of money via private transfers to their families in Croatia last year.

As Jadranka Dozan/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 16th of November, 2018, one of the consequences of Croatia's ever-concerning demographic crisis caused by the mass emigration from the country is the growth of cash inflows through private transfers, which mostly relate to the cash flows that Croatian emigrants send back to their country of origin.

With some of this vast amount of money arriving from other European Union countries, as well as from outside the bloc, more than one billion euros have found their way from the rest of the world to various households across the Republic of Croatia in 2017, which, according to Eurostat's figures, stands at 627 million euros more than was recorded the year before.

As cash flow from other countries (by more than half from countries outside the European Union, mostly from neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina) has also increased, a handsome increase of more than half a billion euros; from +245 to +823 million euros, has been recorded.

The largest surplus in personal transfers to the European Union has been recorded by just four member states, but most of them are larger countries, like Portugal (+3 billion euros), and Poland (+2.8 billion euros), followed then by Romania (+2.6 billion) and Bulgaria (+1.1 billion euros). When compared to 2016, Croatia overtook both Hungary and Lithuania last year in terms of cash inflow from abroad.

Otherwise, EU residents sent an enormous 32.7 billion euros back to their respective countries of origin last year, which is, as previously stated, nearly one billion euros more than was recorded as having been sent back in 2016, along with that figure, 4.3 billion euros (13 percent of total outflow) was sent outside the European Union. At the same time, inflows into the European Union from the rest of the world reached the huge amount of 10.7 billion euros.

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Click here for the original article by Jadranka Dozan for Poslovni Dnevnik

Can Croatia improve its standards by putting in proper preventative fire protection measures in its buildings, alongside the obtaining of energy efficiency certificates? Fire Safe Europe thinks so.

The director of Fire Safe Europe warns that fire protection should be thought of preventively, not just after something has already started burning.

As Ana Blaskovic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 15th of November, 2018, Juliette Albiac is the ''face'' of Fire Safe Europe, a lobby association of building material manufacturers, firefighters and firefighting experts, with the aim of increasing security standards when it comes to fire protection in buildings. After the utterly catastrophic fire that took place in the Grenfell skyscraper in London, which took 72 lives in 2017 because of the inadequate materials used in construction, the tragic theme has finally come to the forefront.

Since the Republic of Croatia also needs to incorporate fire protection regulation into its national legislation by the end of 2020, Fire Safe Europe points out that it is now an ideal opportunity to raise awareness of its importance in the energy renewal of buildings and the availability of European Union funds.

How much Europe is aware of the issues of fire protection?

The fire at the Grenfell Tower in London has inspired many countries in the rest of Europe to review their security procedures and documents, although some Eastern European countries have, already gone ahead and done that. We thought Britain was one of the leaders in standards of fire protection, so this tragedy came as a surprise to us. We knew there were problematic issues because the European regulations were not aligned, and the current testing models can't predict how facades will behave during a fire, but we'd never have said something like that would happen. It was a wake up call.

Was Grenfell a turning point?

First of all, it should be borne in mind that the regulations relating to fire protection are done at the jurisdiction of each member [state of the EU], just as they are with traffic safety. After Grenfell, several countries revised their regulations, but not all of them. A new law has come into force in France, while talks about properly defining tall buildings or skyscrapers are going on in Belgium, as evacuations in the event of fires are getting worse and longer.

Unlike airborne (aircraft) accidents that are spoken about in the media, about which much can be learned by analysing, this isn't the case with fires that take place in buildings. In Europe, about 4,000 people are killed per year, and about 200,000 people are injured. That's why the European Commission established the Fire Information Exchange Platform (FIEP) last year to allow member states to share the best experiences and their data.

What about Croatia?

Unlike Europe, which has had to learn from tragedy, Croatia has luckily learned another way, for example, after we conducted a scientific fire facade study in partnership with the University of Zagreb, the results have influenced a change of regulations to strengthen fire protection. We've compared the three types of façades with different materials that behave differently in a fire. It's been shown that due to the high proportion of flammable materials inside the building, the fire spreads quickly inside and outside of the building, and the speed the fire spread depends on the materials used on the outside of the building. It was a breakthrough where the importance of fire protection was really recognised; we conducted the experiment in 2014, and the regulation in Croatia was changed in 2015.

Otherwise, all eastern countries in Europe take more stringent mandatory measures than trends in Western Europe. Among them, Croatia and Bulgaria have adapted the energy efficiency regulations by prescriptive measures. Take, for example, the definition of tall buildings and skyscrapers; in eastern countries, the borders are lower than they are in Western Europe, and this is extremely important for fire protection. If a fire occurs, the time of evacuation from such buildings is longer. There is no single answer that is the best when it comes to fire protection, for example, it's not enough to just install water sprinklers, but it needs to be a complete approach.

However, everything comes down to money and construction costs. How much more, on average, expensive is it to incorporate a range of inflammable materials into a building?

It's not just a matter of money, the problem lies with insufficient education. Often people, and I'm thinking of building owners and of landlords, don't think about fire protection when building an energy-efficient building. At Fire Safe Europe, we're working to make sure [they know] that using inadequate materials or installing non-certified materials can increase the risk of fire. Talk to your architects and your designers, this isn't just a matter of money. Today's construction is fragmented and the responsibility is also ultimately fragmented. That's the problem. Just take the example of the fires in the middle of the tourist season in Split last year when the fires came down into the city and the citizens and tourists had to evacuate.

Soon, new changes will come into effect. What's that all about?

Croatia, as well as other EU members, will soon be adopting a new long-term energy-building renewal regulation pertaining to the Energy Performance Building Directive (EPBD), which was amended this year, which for the first time mentions fire protection in as many as two articles, in which it demands of a member state that when working to reduce energy consumption in buildings, they also take charge of fire safety. The new regulation has to be included in national legislation within two years, for which discussions have already begun in Croatia. It's important to emphasise that European Union funds are available to those who want to make their buildings more energy efficient, and make them safer in the event of a fire.

What's your key message?

Research shows that people often think of fires just after they hear that something is burning somewhere. In other words, fire protection is often not considered as preventive or during energy renewal, and unfortunately that's a fact. Croatia now has a fantastic opportunity to further improve the standards of fire protection within the energy renewal of its buildings. That's why it's important for people to think about fire protection every time they talk about energy efficiency. Imagine, there's no fire protection included at the time of obtaining an energy certificate, so we know how much energy is being consumed but we don't know how the building will behave in the fire. Personally, it's not clear to me how a building can be sustainable and at the same time be able to just burn to the ground.

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Click here for the original article/interview by Ana Blaskovic for Poslovni Dnevnik

With the acquisition of numerous shopping centres, is Croatia entering a new European retail market?

As Ana Blaskovic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 15th of November, 2018, the consolidation process continues on the domestic real estate market; with Austria's Immofinanz announcing the takeover of two shopping centers, STC Osijek and STC Valpovo, as part of a larger regional transaction worth about 90.5 million euro.

Immofinanz is also taking over eight ''retail'' parks in Slovenia and Serbia, as well as here in Croatia, totaling about 68,000 square metres. The value of the part of the transaction pertaining to the Republic of Croatia has not yet been published, but the entire package, Croatia's part relates to the smallest surface area of approximately 13,500 square metres, from which the Austrian MID group is leaving, the group is probably best known for its relations with the Garden Mall in Zagreb, which was sold to Supernova earlier.

In addition to Croatia, the MID group handed over three ''retail'' parks in Maribor, Krško and Ptuj in neighbouring Slovenia to Immofinanz, totaling 22,000 square metres. Owing to that, Immofinanz's Slovenian portfolio has risen to 52,300 square metres of rentable surface.

The Serbian retailer is MPC group, founded by Serbian businessman Petar Matić, and according to the latest available data, a third of the company was sold to Atterbury Europe back in 2015. Acquisitions in Serbia include 32,000 square feet of rentable land in Subotica, Borčija, and Smederevo. Stop Shop, Immofinanz's brand of retail parks, will in the future operate in nine locations and across 83,600 square metres.

Among the dealers are very well known names like Deichmann, H&M, C&A, Takko, KiK and Jysk, and the shopping centres will soon undergo rebranding, after which they will operate under Immofinanz's Stop Shop concept.

"These acquisitions reinforce our position as the leading European ''retail'' park operator, and, when speaking about Croatia, this marks our entry into a new European retail market that is extremely interesting to our international leasing companies. Good locations, excellent business, good competitiveness of local situations and classical ones, and a healthy mix of tenants are the main features of these attractive investment opportunities,'' said Dietman Reindl, the executive director of Immofinanz in a statement.

The reporters say that the exit of MID from two more centres (after leaving Zagreb's Garden Mall and centres in Koprivnica and Sisak) is the expected consequence of the pace of the new cycle on the market given the fact that its strength lies in project development, and for it to be the operator.

Click here for more business news from Croatia.

Click here for the original article by Ana Blaskovic on Poslovni Dnevnik

Croatia is the second best in the European Union when it comes to wine production for 2018. The country produced as much as 35 percent more wine, with only Slovenia producing more in the whole of the EU.

As Miroslav Kuskunovic/Agrobiz/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 14th of November, 2018, European Commission (EC) experts have pointed out the fact that this year, faith in the wine sector has been restored after the climate crises that caused enormous concern in the past. Wine production will be be 22 percent more than it was back in 2017, and 5 percent more than the average over a five year period.

Croatia will have production of 777,000 hectoliters of wine this year, which is 35 percent more than last year, but also 23 percent less than the five-year average. The European Commission's estimate is the latest report that strongly suggests that this year, wine production in the EU as a whole will be exceptionally good in comparison to 2017, when it dropped in most countries.

The Commission forecasts that the European Union will have production of 175.6 million hectoliters, which is a significant 22.1 percent more than in 2017, and 5.1 percent more than the five-year average. Croatia is, in regard to those estimates, among the countries to have the most growth in this sector in comparison to 2017. Growth in production from Croatia has been surpassed only by neighbouring Slovenia, with an impressive 57 percent growth.

The analysis explains, as mentioned, that this year has returned faith in the wine sector after the recent production drop which was owing mainly to climatic changes, and production was at record low levels. Although this year there were still some significant climatic changes, especially in Northern Europe with some heavy droughts over summer which even saw the United Kingdom turn from green to brown, all of this had a positive impact on the production of grapes and the extremely good quality of the wine, the experts from the European Union explain.

They note that climate change, as well as disease as a ''complementary'' element in grape production due to frequent rains, frosts, droughts and the like, will have a great impact on the future as well. For this reason, the winemakers will have to apply new technologies and knowledge in grape and wine production, as was highlighted in the analysis.

The fact that Croatia will have an excellent level of wine production this year will be confirmed by some of the country's respected and leading winemakers.

"Compared with last year's grape harvest, the amount of grapes is larger, with a bit more yield. As for wine quality, we expect this year to be the highest,'' said Martina Krauthaker Grgić, from the Krauthaker winery. Sebastian Tomić from the Tomić winery says that in 2018, there was no attack of disease on the grapes.

"I dare say that this is a good year with regard to quality and quantity, that is, the quantity is better by 30 percent," noted Tomić.

"This year was really ideal, better than last year. There was no disease, the weather conditions were remarkable. The grape quality is excellent and we expect outstanding wines, balanced, mineral and full bodied,'' says winemaker Josip Franković.

"This year's vintage was excellent both in terms of quality and quantity, and the first wine from PZ Putniković can be expected on the market in March," says Ana Barać of PZ Putniković.

Want to keep up with more information on Croatian wine? Make sure to follow our lifestyle and Total Croatia Wine pages for much more.

Click here for the original article by Miroslav Kuskunovic/Agrobiz on Poslovni Dnevnik

Just how is Croatia doing when it comes to the proper use of EU funds? With many irregularities reported, in 2023, the line will be drawn and all of Croatia's unused capital will be returned to the budget of the European Union.

As Marija Brnic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 14th of November, 2018, this year, we slowly began to see the effects of Croatia's earlier contracts from the current financial period 2014-2020, and the anxiety is clear after the state budget rebalance due to the dynamics of the use of available funds from European Union funds.

The question of whether or not it will be possible to actually spend the total allocation, which comes with a deadline of 2023, when the line will be drawn and the unused capital will be returned to the EU budget. In 2023, it will also be clear how many Croatian users of EU funds have managed to really fit into the rules that the EU actually set for the use of that money, as public procurement procedures and related irregularities are still rather sore points.

Of the available data, during this financial period for the Competitiveness and Cohesion Operational Program, a total of more than 700 suspected irregularities were reported, and of over 650 of those reported irregularities, over 500 reports were actually found to be true, while apparent issues with 150 applications were never properly established. The most frequent irregularities were detected during project implementation for the misapplication of the rules of public procurement.

Several major cases went public and attracted some very negative media attention to this issue over the past year; the construction of the Dugo Selo - Križevci railway line, which due to the established irregularities had to return five percent of the money, about 60 million kuna, and the renovation project of student homes in Zagreb worth 220 million kuna, are just a couple of them.

Because of the breach of public procurement rules, the rule-breaking of the Student centre project in particular threatens Croatia with significant sanctions. The final decision from Brussels on the matter is still pending.

However, such examples are, if not on such a huge scale, still rather common, and the competent state institutions have said that the most irregularities have been found in construction projects, as well as in numerous water supply projects.

"Our users are still accustomed to the old rules of public procurement, so many projects are presenting with such anomalies," they state.

Ariana Vela, the owner of the College of EU Projects, has analysed data from the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds, implemented by the Central Finance and Contracting Agency for EU Programs and Projects (SAFU), according to which 183 decisions on irregularities have been made so far for as many as 75 users. In 130 cases, irregularities were identified.

"They are all projects from different sectors, but it's important to point out that, over time, the costs are growing," Vela said. Given that for the time being, most of the irregularities have been identified in the phase of implementation, particularly in the segment of public procurement, Vela says to expect a real wave of financial corrections to follow over the coming period, which could have a very serious impact on the public budget.

The projects aren't being stalled or delayed by the aforementioned irregularities, at least not in a procedural sense, but the fact is that financial corrections do have an impact on the final EU contribution, on the beneficiaries of the project, as well as the cash flow if the project is still in the pipeline. In terms of when the projects are completed and the irregularities are subsequently determined, the question that remains is how the individual will return that money.

For more information on Croatia's use of EU funds, doing business in Croatia and the domestic economic climate, make sure to follow our business page.

Click here for the original article by Marija Brnic for Poslovni Dnevnik

One Croatian company which pays its employees wages of over 1,000 euros per month has had an offer to move its business operations to Ireland. The company currently employs 100 people in Croatia and 50 people from outside Croatia.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 9th of November, 2018, the managing director of the Rijeka-based Alarm automatika company, Boris Popović, warned about the problems of entrepreneurs with employment and the retention of experts in domestic companies from the ICT sector in Osijek last week.

He said that in his Croatian company, which employs engineering teams, he always fears the departure of experts who are getting more profitable business deals. However, as Glas Slavonije reports, tempting offers are not only received by employees, but also by entrepreneurs.

Alarm automatika deals with delivery solutions in multiple segments of technical protection, ie security systems. The company buys hardware from across the world, but develops its software, creates its own brands and eventually puts it all together into a unique solution offered to customers across multiple markets. Approximately one third of the total revenue is realised by the company's export of its products, and the plan, according to Popović, is for export revenue to reach half of the company's entire revenue by 2020.

Popovic spoke in depth on the topic of how the Croatian state can assist exporters in Osijek, including examples from some countries such as Canada, which funds research and development salaries in strategic industries. He also mentioned the fact that both China and South Korea have measures in place to reward their exporters.

"The interests of the state and society are for entrepreneurs to open up new jobs and invest more in development. The state should therefore encourage those who invest and open new jobs. How can it do that? It can do so by covering part of the costs incurred in research and development, and also with tax breaks on that work. We've seen that with the example of Romania, which has deemed their ICT industry a strategic industry, and has reduced the costs to all employees in that sector to as little possible. 300,000 foreign companies are now active in Romania. This country has become the largest centre for the development of the ICT industry and now the average salary in that sector in Romania is two thousand euros,'' Popović pointed out.

''We now have one hundred employees in Croatia, and 50 more outside of Croatia. On average, their salaries are over a thousand euros, of course, depending on the segment in which they work. It would be good if the taxes on these salaries were 20 to 30 percent lower, and that our employees' salaries were higher by that same amount. We're always in fear that the most important people will leave us, as they constantly receive offers from other companies. And not just those, but our company gets offers. We were the guest of the Irish development agency who suggested we move the entire company over to Ireland. For now, we're not going to do it, but if we end up in a situation where we're without people (staff), then what else can we do other than go there with them,'' admitted Popović.

In Croatia, this Croatian company has offices in Zagreb, Rijeka, Split, Zadar, and outside of Croatia it operates in all the countries of the former Yugoslavia, as well as in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia.

According to Popović, the best operating conditions are in Slovenia, followed by Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary. In Croatia, the highest taxes are paid on employee salaries.

Want to keep up with more news about the domestic economic climate and doing business in Croatia? Make sure to stay up to date with our business page.

While the bleak stories about Croats taking advantage of the European Union's policy of freedom of movement and leaving the country in their droves continue to dominate the headlines of the Croatian press, as well as the conversations taking place across Croatian cafes and bars, there are also many Croatian returnee stories to be told.

These returnees are either on their journeys back to Croatia after spending a few weeks or months in another European country like Ireland and the UK realising they were sold propaganda about how ''easy'' life is, or they simply have a calling for home.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 4th of November, 2018, Lara from Zagreb is one such person who returned from the glitz and glam of the British capital to Croatia, as she still has faith that Croatia can be transformed into an amazing country.

''I know this might sound a little strange, but I still believe that Croatia can be a great country, and that we've got excellent predispositions for success. I agree, people here are don't have it easy. If you go abroad, yes, you'll find it a lot easier to get a job. The challenge is living abroad, but to find a decent and well paid job, perhaps not immediately in the profession [for which you've studied], isn't difficult,'' Lara stated.

''If you can't find a job in London, you'll never find one. But that wasn't the challenge,'' 26-year-old Lara Hamer said, beginning her story.

Lara belongs to one of the first generations of children born in independent Croatia (1992), but her story is quite different from those Croatian returnee stories of her generation that we most often see and read today.

First of all, as Slobodna Dalmacija writes, Lara acquired her bachelor's degree in international relations and politics back in July, from a British university in Northampton, a town somewhat larger than Split (200,000 inhabitants), located about a hundred miles northwest of London. However, she decided to return to Croatia as opposed to staying on in England, and not to simply sit here twiddling her thumbs waiting for someone to chase her down and offer her a job, but with an already developed idea that she intended to bring to Croatia.

Back in March of this year, she and her friend Bruna Tomšić from Zagreb, who completed journalism in Northampton, and Antonia Obrvan from Metković, had managed to conceive a project for social entrepreneurship to help the unemployed youth in Croatia, called MilleniDREAM. Less than half a year later, in October, the women presented their project at a Chicago conference organised upon the foundations of no less than former US President Bill Clinton. 

Unfortunately in the end, the project didn't win the financial support it needed from the conference, but success was found in the fact that out of 10,000 entries from around the world, MilleniDREAM entered into a round of thousands of people who received an invitation to Chicago to introduce and present themselves to numerous potential donors. Clinton's money was received by only seven projects.

"We'll now seek financial support from EU funds," stated an optimistic Lara.

The aforementioned women imagined that the project would link young people, academia, and employers in order to provide students with volunteer opportunities, and eventually get them into work. In addition, they would organise employment fairs, and also help students gain some of the skills needed today to compete on the ever-challenging labour market.

"We're planning so-called ''soft skills'' workshops to help young people write resumes, better present themselves to their future employers, create a good interview, run their social networks to make themselves more interesting to employers, lets say on Linkedin, which is read by many, especially by foreign employers. Today, young people graduate from college and compete for work by writing their CV over five pages. That's old school, and no employer will read it all because there's no time,'' Lara added.

While Bruna's colleague found a job in London directly through a LinkedIn status, Antonia is looking in Strasbourg at the Council of Europe, Lara, aware that the project may take some time to gain some ground, will soon start working in the field of communication.

While not all Croatian returnee stories are perfectly happy ones, the stories of those living abroad aren't always walks in the park either, and they both need to have their place in the media if we're to look at the situation objectively.

Want to hear more about Croatian returnee stories, emigration, immigration, and Croatia's very many foreign entreprenerus and their stories? Make sure to keep up with our lifestyle page.

Croatian fishermen will have their lives and their work made much easier owing to the approval of exemptions for fishing with certain traditional methods, including the use of tow nets, which were formerly banned upon Croatia's entry into the European Union.

As Morski writes on the 2nd of November, 2018, according to the Official Gazette of the European Union, the derogations which Croatia applied for, which provide for exemptions from the provisions of the EU's Mediterranean Decree for Croatian fishermen operating in Croatian waters, have finally been officially approved.

With the publishing these documents, a multi-annual process, during which the Republic of Croatia applied for exemption from the provisions of the Mediterranean Decree, which prevented the use of certain fishing tools in a traditional way, has been completed, reported the Ministry of Agriculture.

This very welcome outcome was preceded by scientific research and the collection of arguments for exemptions for Croatian fishermen which were formulated in a management plan. These management plans, together with the derogations, were actually approved over the winter, but only with the publication of the implementing of these regulations does it become possible to implement them effectively into national legislation.

Fishing will take place according to the strict rules that had to be met, and continue to need to be met for the approval of the desired derogations. This move will not lead to an increase in fishing in general, nor will it negatively impact or cause any additional threat to coastal resources, habitats, or certain species of fish, but it will ensure the continuation of fishing with the use of former methods, in the manner and to the extent at which it stood before Croatia's accession to the EU.

Although the process of obtaining these derogations for Croatian fishermen was an extremely complex process in itself, this much anticipated outcome once again enables the legal work of more than 100 fishing vessels which do use fishing nets. It also enables the retaining of traditional fishing gear and fishing methods which have been present on the Croatian part of the Adriatic sea for decades. Their recognition in European Union legislation will now become official.

''Those who know the fishing [industry] know how much work has gone into obtaining these exemptions and how much harmony and cooperation was needed for us to fight for our traditions, our heritage, and our lifestyle. This is the best example of how strong we are together and how much we care about preserving our values. This outcome is down to everyone who has been working on it for years,'' stated Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture Tomislav Tolušić.

Interested in keeping up with more news like this from both the Croatian national political stage and the European one? Make sure to stay up to date with our politics page.