January 2014 2013 Annual Review of Labour Relations and Social Dialogue in South East Europe: Croatia By Darko Seperic* Content Summary Socio-economic developments Governmental policies and legislation Industrial relations Tripartite social dialogue Forecasts Annex- Information about: Collective bargaining, social dialogue, social security, education& vocational train­ing, employment, wages Trade unions and employer organizations * Darko Seperic , Social Policy Adviser and Coordinator for European Integration at the Union of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia © Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Regional Project for Labour Relations and Social Dialogue in South East Europe Tadeusa Koscuska 8/5 11000 Belgrade, Serbia E-Mail: fes@fessoe.de Internet: www.fessoe.de The text is available online: www.fessoe.de The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Friedrich-Ebert­Stiftung or of the organization for which the author works. 1. Summary In 2013 Croatia became the 28 th member of the European Union, concluding the accession process which lasted more than a decade. However, the year was marked by the continuing recession, continuing a period of five consecutive years without GDP growth resulting in a cumulative GDP decrease of around 12 percent since 2009.