Business Excellence, Vol. 15 No. 2, 2021.
Review article
https://doi.org/10.22598/pi-be/2021.15.2.121
EU REGIONAL POLICY FUND MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS IN SMALL COUNTRIES – EXPERIENCES OF THE BALTIC SEA AND BALTIC ISLANDS’ COUNTRIES AND THEIR APPLICABILITY TO CROATIA
Zvonimir Savić
; Hrvatska gospodarska komora, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Abstract
National systems that enable smooth management and efficient implementation
of EU regional (cohesion) policy funds are crucial for the successful use of this policy in
individual EU countries. However, the framework for diversity in the implementation and
management of EU regional policy is extensive. Therefore, national experiences differ
due to various factors, such as the intensity and type of EU funding, the coherence of the
areas into which EU funds are channelled, and the relative strength of national
administration. Therefore, implementation systems can differ significantly between
countries, and the collection and processing of data for the purposes of this paper are
significantly hampered by the unequal transparency and availability of data on the
structure of national institutional EU fund management systems. The research results in
this paper have shown that the systems (structure) of the EU regional policy funds’
management between countries are not identical due to a whole range of factors.
However, similarities between countries analysed in this paper are also present, which is
partly due to the transfer of experiences between countries. Therefore, the results of the
research show that it is possible to define an optimal and functional national system of
managing EU regional policy funds, based on the experiences of comparable countries
and to apply it to Croatia. Given that we are at the very beginning of the new EU
Multiannual Financial Framework (2021-2027), when EU fund management systems are
defined by EU member states for a new financial perspective, and published
papers/research that would be the basis for such decisions on the level of Croatia are
absent, thus the contribution and value of this paper for policyholders is well-timed and
significant.
Keywords
EU regional policy; EU regional policy management systems; disbursement of EU funds; absorption of EU funds
Hrčak ID:
266891
URI
Publication date:
10.12.2021.
Visits: 988 *