Today, the Commission has endorsed a positive preliminary assessment of Croatia’s fifth payment request for €821.7 million (net of pre-financing) under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU.
Following its assessment of the payment request submitted on 15 April 2024, the Commission has preliminarily concluded that Croatia has satisfactorily completed the 25 milestones and 12 targets set out in the Council Implementing Decisionfor the fifth grant instalment and the first loan instalment.
15 reforms and 16 investments will drive positive change for citizens and businesses in Croatia in the areas of digitalisation, public administration, clean mobility, water and wastewater management, tourism, the judiciary, education and health.
Flagship measures in this payment request include:
- A more resilient and cost-efficient health system: Croatia has completed the functional integration of nine government-managed hospitals. The reduction in acute inpatient capacities and a shift in focus to day hospital services is expected to lead to a more cost-efficient health system. The reforms are to support Croatia’s transition to a more resilient, financially sustainable, accessible, and inclusive healthcare system, in line with the European Health Union’s goals.
- Establishing a one-stop-shop for all electronic public helpdesk services: Croatia has launched one centralised system to better support users of online publics services in their interaction with all public administrations in Croatia. This harmonizes online helpdesk services across public administrations and includes user feedback features for improved interaction quality. This one-stop-shop helpdesk is expected to enhance access to public services for citizens and businesses, aligning it with the Digital Croatia Strategy 2032.
Next steps
The Commission has now sent its preliminary assessment of Croatia’s fulfilment of the milestones and targets required for this payment to the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC), which has four weeks to deliver its opinion. The payment to Croatia can take place following the EFC’s opinion, and the adoption of a payment decision by the Commission.
Background
The Croatian recovery and resilience plan includes a wide range of investment and reform measures. The plan will be financed by €5.8 billion in grants and €4.2 billion in loans. The payment request preliminary endorsed today follows Croatia’s fourth payment request, that was endorsed by the Commission on 29 February 2024 and disbursed to Croatia on 15 April 2024.
This payment request will bring the funds disbursed to Croatia under the Recovery and Resilience Facility to €3.1 billion (net of pre-financing), which corresponds to 31% of all the funds in the Croatian plan, with 36% of all the milestones and targets in the plan fulfilled.
An interactive map providing examples of reforms and investments supported by the Recovery and Resilience Facility is available online.
