Croatia Jumps from the Bottom to a High 11th Place in Using ‘Juncker’s Money’

In a very short time, Croatia has managed to catapult itself to just below the top ten EU member states in utilizing funds from the so-called Juncker Plan. This information was revealed to journalists on Thursday by European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen in Brussels.

According to the criterion of the value of contracted projects as a share of GDP, Croatia ranks 11th, and this leap from the bottom of the list occurred due to intensified activities during this year. Within the European Fund for Strategic Investments, Croatia has nine projects with a total value of 940 million euros and an expected associated effect of 741 million euros, focusing on energy and small and medium-sized enterprises.

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Further Croatian success depends on informing the private sector about the benefits and opportunities within the EFSI, particularly in breaking the perception that this Fund is the same as traditional European funds that depend on sometimes slow national bureaucracy, Katainen explained. A key element is to establish contact with the local office of the European Investment Bank, which is the holder of the EFSI, he added.

The top five countries by the same criterion are Estonia, Portugal, Greece, Spain, and Latvia, which owe their high ranking to stronger engagement from their governments and greater focus from the Commission and the European Investment Bank on member states that need such investments the most.

Of the targeted effect of 315 billion euros in total investments (money from the Fund plus private sector participation), about 75 percent has been achieved so far, or 240 billion euros, on an investment of 47 billion euros from the Fund.

>>> EU Funds: We Have Only Utilized 15 Percent of 10.7 Billion Euros for the Period 2014-2020.

The fulfillment of the set criterion is therefore expected by the middle of next year, Katainen said. He also highlighted that investments have so far supported 300,000 jobs, which should grow to 700,000 by 2020.

Interested investors and project bidders also have access to a special EIPP portal, which the commissioner dubbed the Tinder for investments (a popular dating app), as well as an Advisory Center that helps project seekers shape their projects to be attractive to investors (EIPP).

Given the success, the duration of the EFSI will be extended, and the targeted effect increased to 500 billion euros, which was recently agreed upon at the political level, Katainen announced.