Regional Project for Labour Relations and Social Dialogue in South East Europe January 2011 Annual Review 2010 on Labour Relations and Social Dialogue in South East Europe: Croatia By Pezelj* Content Executive 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 employers’ organizations * Ana 0LOLüHYLü Pezelj, Head of Education Department in 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. Executive Summary All public opinion polls show that Croatian citizens are primarily worried by the unemployment, which is followed by corruption. For two years, the Government of the Republic of Croatia has been trying to find appropriate response to the economic crisis; however despite increasing the number of sources of financing the State budget(such as increase of the VAT rate and introduction of a special tax, the so-called“crisis tax”) the State has not succeeded in acquiring the planned incomes due to general drop in consumption and rise of unemployment. During the past years the majority of official economic policy makers, independent experts and public have dealt with the problem