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Strategy and policy
Reforms and Investments

Advancing regulatory policy in Croatia through innovation and digitalisation

Supporting reforms to foster an attractive business environment and increase competitiveness

Funding Programme
Year
  • 2022

Advancing regulatory policy in Croatia through innovation and digitalisation

The European Commission seeks to improve Croatia’s business environment, boost competitiveness, and promote innovation by enhancing regulatory processes. In particular, the project aims to improve Croatia's regulatory policy through three components. Component A focuses on optimising and digitalising administrative processes. Component B seeks to increase public sector efficiency by recommending a digital platform for regulatory tools like the SME Test. Component C supports regulatory experimentation initiatives.

Context 

The complex business environment delays competitiveness and productivity growth in Croatia, and in order to improve the business environment, it is essential to improve the regulation in force and adopt new standards of conducting SME test for the public administration based on the Better regulation principles. The aim of this project was the efficiency in the public sector with digitization of regulatory assessment tools (for SME Test), increasing competitiveness and upgrading regulatory environment for innovations. Within the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development (MINGOR), SME Test is the responsibility of the Business Environment Improving Service (Unit) in Sector for Competitiveness. The Unit is also obliged to provide support to competent public authorities for the implementation of the SME Test, but also to foster businesses and encourage the inter-departmental application of SCM Methodology and other tools that support the Regulatory Impact Assessments.

Support delivered 

  1. Developing a Strategy and Action Plan for Better regulation Policy and Economic Impact Assessment of Regulation principles on the SME sector 2023-2028.
  2. Developing a process optimization and blueprint (functional and technical specification) for digitalization of the Impact Assessment (SME Test) through the development of a digital platform. 

The project has been structured into three main components and an additional component to work on the actions to be carried out during and after the project. These are the following:

  • Component A: Optimising and digitalising selected administrative processes for administrative burden reduction.
  • Component B: Digital platform for Croatia’s SME Test.
  • Component C: support Croatia’s implementation of regulatory experimentation initiatives, including regulatory sandboxes, to promote innovation within the country’s public service and business environment – as well as agile regulatory governance.
  • Component D: Awareness-building of Action activities.

Results achieved 

  1. Support provided for the development of a Strategy and an accompanying Action Plan to assess the effects of regulations on the small and medium-sized enterprise sector.
  2. Proposals for regulatory amendments developed to improve the procedure for assessing the effects of regulations on small economies (SME Test).
  3. Preparatory steps taken for the public procurement of a Digital Platform to support the SME Test.
  4. Efforts made towards the implementation of the Regulatory Sandbox concept, including the adoption of a protocol to facilitate its application.

More about the project

You can read the documents related to the project here: