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ESPN Thematic Report on Social Investment in Croatia

Croatia’s social policy is not based on a coherent social investment approach, either at national, regional or local levels. Social policies remain largely passive, although the issue of active inclusion, including active inclusion in the labour market, has received greater attention in recent years. While all aspects of social policy remain a low political priority, those programmes which protect the rights of politically influential groups, notably war veterans and, to an extent, pensioners, tend to be prioritised at the expense of needs-based and evidence-based approaches. There is little horizontal or vertical integration of policies, with little real co-ordination between different levels of government, or between governmental and non- governmental actors. Strategies tend to be developed separately for a series of so-called ‘vulnerable groups’ although most of these strategies are little more than wish lists with low implementation potential and, crucially, too few clear timelines, indicators, or budgets. In the context of fiscal consolidation required by Croatia’s Excessive Debt Procedure, the idea of social policies as investment has remained underdeveloped and, often, long-standing or traditionally core social programmes which are compensatory in approach have tended to be better protected than more innovative social programmes which may have a stronger social investment component.

social investment ; social policy ; Croatia

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