Vedran Đulabić

Local Government and Local Public Services in Croatia

In Croatia, the 1990s were the years of centralisation. The role of local government in the provision of public services was significantly weakened. Privatisation was connected with general transformation of the former ‘social’ ownership economy into market economy. In spite of being influenced by the new public management doctrine, the European Union’s liberalisation and privatisation policy, and efforts of the private sector, the Croatian public sector is still strong and able to provide a wide array of services to its citizens. Despite privatisation in many sectors (primary healthcare, telecommunications, waste management), vivid remnants of public esprit de corps exist. Thus, the role of the private sector in the provision of local services is developing gradually. There are no signs of re-municipalisation. The division of services between the state and the local government is still a more important issue than the potential failure of the private sector in the provision of quality local public services.

Evaluation of the Decentralisation Programme in Croatia: Expectations, Problems and Results

The chapter aims to evaluate decentralisation reform in Croatia in 2001–2015. The main research question considers the impacts, the effects, and the outcomes of decentralisation programmed in four policy areas: education, health, social care, and firefighting. Although some analyses of the particular sectors and aspects of decentralisation have been performed, neither a comprehensive evaluation of the whole decentralisation package nor the comparison between the four policy areas has been conducted so far. The evaluation is based on the program theory model. The research focuses on several types of information sources: legal, policy and other official documents, reports, statistics, and semi-structured interviews with the main actors of decentralisation. These have been used as a basis to determine the reform goals, expectations, main problems, and the most important effects of decentralisation policy.

Regional Analysis of Construction Permitting Procedures in Slovenia and Croatia

Construction permitting and spatial regulations are important for the functioning of modern society as regards enabling basic social needs, the right to a healthy living environment and the possibility to promote business and economic growth. However, what is typical of these real life situations is a collision of several private interests and the public interest. In order to protect the latter, the state needs to set certain limitations also by means of regulations and to ensure the appropriate administrative capacity to implement them. Moreover, the right and possibility to build is important for sustainable regional development. The article addresses the profiles of Slovenia and Croatia, in particular their procedural aspects and administrative systems’ efficiency in the field of construction. The results show that both countries regulate their construction procedures similarly, with a special focus on the simplification of administrative procedures. As such, they continually try to enhance administrative capacity.