Today, the Commission has endorsed a positive preliminary assessment of Croatia’s fourth payment request for €162.5 million under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU.
Following its assessment of the payment request submitted by Croatia on 21 December 2023, the Commission has preliminarily concluded that Croatia has satisfactorily completed the 9 milestones and 7 targets set out in the Council Implementing Decision for the fourth instalment.
This payment request covers important steps in the delivery of 6 reforms and 8 investments that will drive positive change for citizens and businesses in Croatia in areas such as public administration, the judiciary, public procurement, early childhood education and care, the decarbonisation of the energy sector, electronic communications, research and innovation, and health.
Flagship measures in this payment request include:
- New model for the financing of kindergartens: Croatia adopted a new model for state funding of early childhood education facilities to increase participation in early childhood education. The state funding will benefit less developed regions where municipalities face financial constraints to fund kindergartens. The new model also establishes a nation-wide criterion for the distribution of funds between municipalities. It will improve the financial sustainability of kindergartens, reduce regional disparities, and promote overall access to early childhood education in Croatia.
- Important investments in healthcare: Croatia purchased state-of-the-art diagnostic medical equipment for two major clinical centres that will improve the quality and accessibility of healthcare for all patients, including those requiring the most complex of treatments. The new equipment will improve the diagnosis, treatment and post-treatment monitoring of patients and will help to decrease time spent in hospital, including in intensive care units. It will also limit possible complications, lower treatment costs, and reduce waiting times in these clinics. In addition, Croatia also acquired equipment for the treatment of epilepsy in drug-resistant patients and has digitised cardiology services by investing in 40 telemedical access centres which will provide rapid and easily accessible cardiology diagnostic services.
Next steps
The Commission has now sent its preliminary assessment of Croatia’s fulfilment of the milestones and targets required for this payment to the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC), which has four weeks to deliver its opinion. The payment to Croatia can take place following the EFC’s opinion, and the adoption of a payment decision by the Commission.
Background
The Croatian recovery and resilience plan includes a wide range of investment and reform measures (more information on the Croatian plan, including a map of projects financed by the Recovery and Resilience Facility in Croatia are available here). The plan will be financed by €5.8 billion in grants and €4.2 billion in loans. The payment request preliminary endorsed today follows Croatia’s third payment request, that was endorsed by the Commission on 25 October 2023 and disbursed to Croatia on 30 November 2023.
This payment request will bring the funds disbursed to Croatia under the Recovery and Resilience Facility to €3.7 billion (including the €818 million in pre-financing received in September 2021 and the €585 million pre-payment under REPowerEU received on 25 January 2023). This corresponds to 37% of all the funds in the Croatian plan, with 28% of all the milestones and targets in the plan fulfilled.
For more information
Commission’s preliminary assessment of Croatia’s fourth payment request
Croatia’s Recovery and Resilience plan
Plan overview, full plan and all other related documents
Recovery and Resilience Facility
Recovery and Resilience Facility project map
Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard