Horvátország és az EU-integráció: illúzióvesztés és új szemlélet között
Croatia and European Integration: Between Disillusionment and a New Vision

Summary/Abstract: Croatians strongly supported accession to NATO and the EU in the 1990s, and as the negotiation process began in 2005, the year 2010 seems a likely date for Croatia’s EU entry. However, the public perception has changed. Scepticism towards integration prevails despite the economic recovery witnessed in this decade, which has been obvious and widely shared by different groups of the population. And although the political elite show a strong pro-European stance, doubts remain among the general population about the costs and benefits of integration. As economic issues recently gained more importance in public debates, a shift in the mood can be partly explained by confusion about the diagnoses and potential cures for six major economic problems. These are: (i) Sluggish export performance and lack of greenfield FDI; (ii) A persistent balance of payments current account deficit and relatively high external debt; (iii) Low competitiveness, and high costs and barriers to doing business; (iv) The distorted view of the role of foreign banks; (v) The lack of fiscal flexibility required for effective anticyclical fiscal policies; (vi) Relatively high unemployment and the perception of high income inequalities.[…]

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