National Development Strategy Croatia 2030: Roadmap for a Better Future

A better, faster and modern judiciary is of paramount importance to improve the business environ-
ment and increase trust in Croatia’s public institutions
. Croatia has undertaken comprehensive reforms 
to address the key challenges of the justice system during the pre- and post-accession period. Noteworthy 
progress has been made in recent years in key areas, especially concerning the reduction of the backlog of 
cases. The court system, however, continues to manifest significant inefficiencies regarding the length of 
time to resolve cases, the significant costs of the system (with the largest number of judges per capita in 
the EU), and public perceptions not only of inefficiency, but also of unpredictability and corruption, espe-
cially in civil and commercial cases. 
A legal and institutional framework to prevent and address corruption is in place, but enforcement 
needs improvement
. Widespread perception of significant corruption, including within the justice system, 
requires higher attention from policymakers. Outcomes of the improvement of the policy design process, 

---

Croatia 2030: Roadmap for a Better Future
10 
including better transparency and inclusiveness in the area of anti-corruption, remain to be seen. More 
effective implementation of policy measures envisaged by the anti-corruption strategy is crucial.
Strengthening productivity will also require modernization of Croatia’s approach to research, de-
velopment and innovation
. In 2017 Croatia spent 0.9 percent of its GDP on RDI, compared to the Europe 
2020 Strategy target of 3 percent, and will not reach its national target of 1.4 percent of GDP by 2020. 
Only half of this amount is spent by the private sector with the rest being public research centers and 
universities, the latter still being funded in very traditional ways relying to a large extent on grants. Em-
ployment in R&D is very low, especially in the business sector. Croatia’s rate of transformation of research 
into high added value products and services is also low, resulting in very limited impact of R&D expendi-
tures on increased sales. 
Investing in tangible and intangible assets to improve connectivity and innovation