Croatia will become a member of the European Union next week, and a journalist from the German Der Spiegel wonders if the ‘small country of Eastern Europe is ready for entry, considering that Zagreb will most likely need emergency subsidies from Brussels’.
While producers and traders are aggressively preparing for the Croatian market – as 20 percent of tariffs on EU products will be removed, making their products overnight much more competitive – it is unlikely that Croatia will benefit from EU membership in the short term.
A deep economic crisis has been shaking Croatia for the past five years. National debt is rapidly increasing, and two agencies have assigned a ‘junk’ status to Croatia’s credit rating. In such a situation, it is very likely that Croatia will need to receive money from the EU treasury in the foreseeable future, writes Der Spiegel.
Moreover, enthusiasm for EU membership among Croats has significantly waned, and the dream of Europe seems to be turning into a nightmare for many. More than half of young citizens of Croatia are unemployed, and the overall unemployment rate is around 20 percent. Strong competition from EU companies will likely permanently ‘kick many Croatian companies out of business’.
