Finland Times

Twelve months after Croatia achieved its dream of joining the European Union (EU), a cheerful atmosphere in Zagreb has cooled in amidst of a depressed economy.

    

Croatia, the newest member of the 28-block, remains one of the weakest economies in the block. Croatia's 60-billion-dollar economy is now 12 percent smaller than it was before 2008. In its spring economic forecast the European Commission predicted that Croatia would post a recession this year, the sixth in a row.

    

The country has hoped EU membership to pull itself out of the recession. But there is little sign of local start-ups or foreign investors generating viable businesses beyond tourism.

    

After joining the block Croatia has seven times more access to European funds, potentially 1.5 billion euros (2 billion U.S. dollars) per year, but to qualify for these funds, Croatia must allocate 1 percent of its GDP to co-finance projects.

    

Croatian President Ivo Josipovic said during his recent official visit to Switzerland that "economically, we have failed to fully benefit from our membership in the EU. We haven't used all the available money".

    

According to Croatian Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds Branko Grcic, the government has absorbed 501 million euros so far.

    

Facing unemployment of 20 percent, worse among young, the young and brain mostly doctors and teachers are leaving the country for possibilities in education and job opportunities in abroad.

    

In the first quarter of this year 417 of the 16972 licensed doctors in the country have applied for leaving, according to the Croatian Medical Chamber (CMC).

    

Hrvoje Minigo, the president of CMC said that he expected the number would climb up to 600 by the end of the year.

    

However, some analysts viewed several positive impacts in the first year of EU membership.

    

A German economist said that small and medium enterprises in Croatia are showing the first signals of increased export on European markets, thanks to the elimination of customs barriers and simplified procedures.

    

Croatia's agricultural products have full access to the EU market, resulting in the export of live pigs there for the first time in recent history, he said, adding this is very important for Croatian farmers, showing that their products are competitive in the EU market.