ZAGREB, 22 Feb 2022 - Croatian businesses will have a wide range of opportunities in the new financing period, Minister for Regional Development and EU Funds Nataša Tramišak said on Tuesday while presenting the new Multiannual Financial Framework under which Croatia will have access to €14.4 billion.

Tramišak attended a business breakfast hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Croatia, which focused on the opportunities of the business community to use funds from the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027.

She said that of the €14.4 billion made available to Croatia under the MFF, about €9 billion concerns cohesion policy which is coordinated by her ministry.

"A large portion of funding will go towards targeted public calls for our businesses, for investment in tangible and non-tangible assets and the green and digital transition of the economy, which includes productive investment in research, development and innovation. We will also embark on a new direction regarding plans for the industrial transition of regions, because we want to strengthen the regional economies of Pannonian, Adriatic and Northern Croatia," Tramišak said.

She said that calls had already been issued last year as part of the Next Generation EU instrument and the Recovery Assistance for Cohesion and the Territories of Europe (REACT-EU) programme for investment in the manufacturing industry for the green and digital transition, and more than HRK 1 billion worth of projects had been agreed for Croatian enterprises.

New calls are expected before the end of this year, after the MFF is approved by the European Commission, she added.

Tramišak recalled that the value of the entire allocation for Croatia over the next nine years is €25 billion, while Croatian businesses will have direct access to about €5 billion from the entire package, which includes the MFF and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

She also noted the possibility for investment through the common agricultural policy, where the allocation for Croatia amounts to about €5 billion, and this process will be coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture.

ZAGREB, July 17, 2020 - The negotiations on the  Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2017 and the recovery package are politically most important for the development of the EU in the next seven years and require a high level of political maturity, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said in Brussels on Friday.

"We will advocate Croatia's interest and seek possibilities of funding our national programme for recovery, including projects that will make sure that Croatia has a balanced regional development. the development of agriculture and also investments in the digital and green economy and all other things in connection with the future and catching up with the 4.0 industrial revolution," Plenkovic said just before the start of the first face-to-face summit meeting in Brussels after several months of virtual conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 10 July, European Council President Charles Michel presented his new proposal for the long-term EU budget and the recovery package, the so-called negobox.

This proposal serves as a basis for the leaders’ discussions at the ongoing Special European Council. 

President Michel has proposed €1 074 billion to fulfill the long-term objectives of the EU and to preserve the full capacity of the recovery plan. This proposal is largely based on the February proposal, which reflected two years of discussions between member states. As for the size of the recovery fund, the Commission would be empowered to borrow up to €750 billion through an own-resource decision. Of that amount, 500 billion would be in the form of non-repayable grants and 250 billion as loans.

"A deal is essential. Now is the time," says Michel in his invitation letter for the special summit.

The Croatian premiere is hopeful that all leaders of the EU bloc's member-states will show a high level of political maturity "so that we can send a key message to all our citizens, to all members of the EU."