CROATIA'S ROLE AND LEVERAGE IN THE EU

The role Zagreb wants to play as a new member of the EU is still unclear. The Croatian elite has not yet begun to seriously discuss what the country wants to do in the Union. There are some ideas, but still poorly defined. Certainly, Croatia can provide Brussels with knowledge and advice on the Western Balkans, but the country refuses to claim the role of 'protector' of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the process of rapprochement. Among Croatia's aspirations, tied with its identity and geographical location, figure further strengthening the EU as a 'club of small nations', and not just the board of intersection of the interests of the largest countries, and pushing to preserve the Mediterranean environment as clean, safe, and friendly.

Whereas the number of the small member states represents numerical dominance in the EU it is arguably that when national voices are combined to shape a common EU voice, small member states might feel ‘less heard’. The list of priorities for Croatia has to be compact and specific; at the same time, it must ensure a balance between Croatian national and European interests.

Croatia should choose to improve negotiations with the Commission looking at it as a key partner in its attempt to build coalitions and thus try its utmost to get the Commission on its side before facing the large states in the Council of Ministers.

EU institutions offer a reliable forum where Croatia can gain information about the actions and preferences of other states – small and large. The EU Institutions also give Croatia an opportunity to influence the compliance of powerful states to joint decisions and rules while emphasizing its own input in common projects. Croatia should not focus on all issues on the EU agenda due to limited personnel and financial resources and therefore Croatia’s participation should be limited to a few preferred areas.

Union of small member states on a territorial principle could benefit from the outcome of the voting procedure in favour of interests of small member states. However, these preconditions of better participation of small member states do not increase homogeneity among them. Thus, Croatia should continue cooperation with its strategic partners (to be defined) and not search for new ones. Croatia  should improve informal contacts with the Commission not only at the political but at the EU officials’ level.

Influencing EU decisions for new small and poorer member states is not easy. Croatia as a small EU member state has limited powers to enforce its interests and to tangibly influence EU decisions. Therefore Croatia needs to use the EU leverage for achieving results in the fields it considers to be of key importance (to be defined). Croatia needs to find rational partners in order to be part of a coalition that has a chance to represent the coalition partners' common interests. Big partners are definitely a must for successful coalitions.

When it comes to purely political matters, the Croatian government – like all other EU member states will rely on its own functionaries to present and defend the national interests. It will be up to the Croatian permanent representation in Brussels to:

1. Gather intelligence about future EU policy developments and the progress of existing proposals and assisting Croatian ministers and officials to influence the policy formulation;
2. Establish a close cooperation with a wide range of individuals, organisations and bodies representing Croatian interests (Croatian companies and NGOs, Croatian MEPs, Croatian members of the Committee of the Regions and the Economic and Social Committee);
3. Provide practical support for Croatian ministers and officials visiting Brussels;
4. Develop and strengthen regional networks through involvement with the Committee of the Regions and through contacts with other regions represented in Brussels;
5. Promote Croatia in Brussels and contribute to current policy debates through conferences, events, cultural activities and receptions.

As a rather small country Croatia will not be the agenda setter and will have to join larger coalitions in order to be part of the winning side. The Council is an intergovernmental institution and as such is dominated by national interests; winning coalitions emerge after a consensus has been reached. Croatia will have to make greater compromises or it will be easily outvoted.

While there are several benefits related to EU membership, there are also significant “burdens” that Croatia has to accept. The most symbolic benefit of EU membership is the simple fact that by joining the “European club,” Croatia will sit at the table where EU decisions are made. Croatia will thus change from a country for which the Union sets conditions and benchmarks to a fully-fledged member state. EU membership also brings tangible financial benefits: In the period 2013 to 2020, it is expected that Croatia can receive between ten and thirteen billion euros in EU grants, such as EU funding for infrastructure, agriculture, rural development, and environmental protection. A third advantage of EU membership is access to the Union’s single market and thus to over 500 million EU customers. It is expected that Croatia can particularly benefit from increasing exports in the field of transport equipment, machinery, textiles, chemicals, and fuel.