Croatia

This review was prepared in response to Croatia's 2015 request to adhere to the Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises. It assesses the climate for domestic and foreign investment in Croatia, its ability to comply with the principles of openness, transparency and non-discrimination and its policy convergence with the OECD Declaration, including responsible business conduct practices, and discusses the challenges and opportunities faced by the government of Croatia in its reform efforts. Capitalising on the OECD Policy Framework for Investment, this review includes chapters on foreign investment trends and performance, foreign investor entry and operations, the legal and institutional framework for investment protection, investment promotion and facilitation, public governance, and policies to promote and enable responsible business conduct.

Croatia has made great strides in strengthening its regulatory policy framework. Improving the entire regulatory policy cycle will ensure that regulations are built on a foundation of solid evidence and public participation and are designed to improve the security, health and well-being of citizens at a reasonable cost. This report assesses the country’s regulatory management capacity by taking stock of regulatory policies, institutions and tools, including administrative simplification policies, ex ante and ex post evaluation of regulations, stakeholder engagement practices, multi-level regulatory governance arrangements and tax regimes for small businesses. The review describes trends and recent developments, identifies gaps in relation to good practices and offers policy recommendations based on best international practices to strengthen the government’s capacity to manage regulatory policy.

This report looks at the state of health in Croatia.

The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes is the multilateral framework within which work in the area of tax transparency and exchange of information is carried out by over 130 jurisdictions which participate in the work of the Global Forum on an equal footing. The Global Forum is charged with in-depth monitoring and peer review of the implementation of the standards of transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes. These standards are primarily reflected in the 2002 OECD Model Agreement on Exchange of Information on Tax Matters and its commentary, and in Article 26 of the OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital and its commentary as updated in 2004, which has been incorporated in the UN Model Tax Convention. The standards provide for international exchange on request of foreseeably relevant information for the administration or enforcement of the domestic tax laws of a requesting party. 'Fishing expeditions' are not authorised, but all foreseeably relevant information must be provided, including bank information and information held by fiduciaries, regardless of the existence of a domestic tax interest or the application of a dual criminality standard. All members of the Global Forum, as well as jurisdictions identified by the Global Forum as relevant to its work, are being reviewed. This process is undertaken in two phases. Phase 1 reviews assess the quality of a jurisdiction’s legal and regulatory framework for the exchange of information, while Phase 2 reviews look at the practical implementation of that framework. Some Global Forum members are undergoing combined – Phase 1 plus Phase 2 – reviews. The ultimate goal is to help jurisdictions to effectively implement the international standards of transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes.

This OECD Review of Innovation Policy in Croatia offers a comprehensive assessment of the innovation system of Croatia, focusing on the role of government. It suggests that EU integration opens a window of opportunity for strengthening Croatia's science, technology and innovation systems, and recommends that Croatia improve governance, rebalance the innovation mix and do more to foster business innovation.