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Croatian Transport Policy in the EU Context

The initial talks on the Republic of Croatia’s possible association with and subsequent accession to the EU that took place in the early 1990s (it was the EEC then) and the first related (unofficial) talks with Croatia in Brussels indicated their mutual interest. The EEC’s interest in Croatia’s full membership was ‘geotraffical’ and geopolitical in nature. The country’s location would enable very efficient communication of Eastern and Western Europe (from Greece to Germany) and Continental and Mediterranean Europe (from Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to Italy and beyond). In terms of its location, the Republic of Croatia is at once a Mediterranean, Pannonian and Danubian country. Its position and location imply substantial advantages and development potential, evaluated in different ways in recent and earlier history, often for the purpose of various interests of the neighbouring political, military and economic forces and states: Italy, Austria-Hungary and, in certain historical periods, the Turkish Empire. The construction of the overall communications network (roads, railway lines, ports) often – even predominantly – served the purpose of these external interests. The period of the first and second Yugoslavia then ensued, marked by further development of the communications network in accordance with – again, predominantly – geopolitical interests, this time within the common country. Of particular importance from that period is the road network built on the territory of the present-day Republic 194 EU Public Policies Seen from a National Perspective of Croatia: the Adriatic Highway that gave a strong impetus to the development of the (coastal) tourist industry, and the Brotherhood and Unity Highway that connected the central and eastern parts of Croatia. Development of the railway network was relatively modest, particularly in terms of connecting the interior with the coastal ports with infrastructural potential. That period saw the substantial development of the air-traffic land infrastructure, including the Pula, Rijeka, Zadar, Split, Dubrovnik and Zagreb airports. From the geopolitical point of view, the priority of connecting the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia’s continental interior with its Mediterranean coast resulted in the construction of the Belgrade– Bar Railway and the Port of B ar, involving a considerable financial investment (including international investment). The war and the country’s independence gave rise to new, great expectations for the overall future development of Croatia. In the two following decades, the country primarily concentrated on a single aspect of traffic communications (spending substantial funds for the capital investment in it): the construction of a highway network connecting the country’s interior with its coastal region: from Osijek (and the already existing highway section there) to Zagreb and further along the coast, to Pula, Rijeka, Zadar, Split, Ploče and Dubrovnik. Two major challenges remain for the upcoming period: a) integrating the existing road network into a wider concept of intermodal transport (ports, railways, inland waterways, air and road transport) ; and b) making sure that the network thus conceived and constructed for the future becomes fully integrated into the existing transport strategy of the European Union.

Transport policy, EU membership, r eform process in transport sector, transport infrastructure, EU policies,

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