Accession of Croatia to the European Union Under the Conditions of Globalization

Abstract

Nowadays, in times when the globalization process is fast advancing, the question is no longer whether the globalization process is desirable or not, or whether it should be supported or hampered but rather simply the question of joining this process, especially for small and open countries like Croatia. In other words, one can choose to be proactive and accept and implement the development impulses offered by this process or reactive, waiting to be eventually globalized and thus remain at the rear of development opportunities. It’s worth pinpointing that this is the process of overall economic, political and cultural interconnectivity of the entire world being the result of the development of information technologies as well as the development of traffic and communications systems as a whole. This renders many desirable but also undesirable effects not just on economic, technological, political, cultural or social plan, but also on the demographic level due to the global migration processes caused by the deregulations of labour and capital markets as well as open borders. Where is Croatia in relation to world’s globalization processes and the EU? At first glance, Croatian significance might seem marginal, or as I like to put it, it is at the level of a statistical error. According to the Credit Suisse Research Institute, the Croatian share in global wealth is 0.05%, and its share in adult population is 0.08%. A similar situation is regarding the EU – should Croatia access the EU, it would account for 0.4% of GDP and have a 0.9 % share in adult population. Throughout history, due to its relatively small size and the significance of its area as a borderline between cultures and the intersection of important traffic flows, the Croatian people have been repeatedly forced to seek shelter and to protect their national interests through different political integrations. Thus in 1102, Croatia entered into a personal union with Hungary (referred to as the Pacta Conventa), in 1918, it formed the First Yugoslavia (the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes) and in 1945, the Second Yugoslavia. After a period of independence, from 1991 until today, Croatia is once more faced with a historic decision concerning its accession to the EU. This time its decision is motivated by economic reasons and cultural continuity, and not by the need to protect its territorial integrity, which was the dominant motive in the previous cases. By joining the EU, Croatia sees its chance for a full valorization of its resources and comparative advantages, which would place it among the leading countries in the region, the position in which it was at the end of last century.