NPOO Project

The National Recovery and Resilience Plan 2021-2026 (NERP) as an enabling financial framework and mechanism, with a strong European and national dimension responding to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, defines reform pathways and investment areas in order to achieve the objectives of economic and social recovery, as well as to strengthen the resilience of the state and the Croatian economy to crises.

The NPOO recognises the challenges Croatia is facing, as well as the actions that will be undertaken for recovery and resilience. The EIAH contributes to the achievement of four general objectives at EU level: promoting economic, social and territorial cohesion in the Union, strengthening economic and social resilience, reducing the social and economic impacts of the crisis and fostering the green and digital transitions. The NPOO is structured into components or areas of intervention, within which the sub-components or main reforms to be implemented are defined. For each reform, the measures through which the reform will be implemented have been identified.

The planned reforms, measures and investments are structured according to five components and one initiative selected as key areas of intervention in the coming period, taking into account the development paths of Croatia defined in the current strategic acts, on the one hand, and the current economic situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, on the other.

The components of the NPOO are the following:

1. The economy

2. Public Administration, Justice and State Assets

3. Education, Science and Research

4. Labour market and social protection

5. The Healthcare

6. The initiative: Renovation of buildings

The total estimated value of investments from the NPOO is expressed in HRK excluding VAT and amounts to HRK 48.2 billion.

Under the second component, which aims to improve the efficiency of public administration, the judiciary and the management of state assets, as well as the quality and accessibility of public services to citizens and the effective fight against corruption, a reform is planned — C2.3. Digital transformation of society and public administration. This reform provides the conditions for further progress of Croatian society and economy by encouraging further investments in digital technologies, upgrading, improving and ensuring the interoperability of information systems aimed at facilitating business operations for the public and private sectors. Due to the lack of platforms and services to facilitate easy information exchange and communication between public administrations, a reform of ‘C2.3.’ was proposed. R2 Improving the interoperability of information systems" focusing on the further development of public services and national IT infrastructure and on the establishment of a central interoperability system. This initiative will also contribute to the achievement of the objective of “Creating a Single Market for Data” of the European Data Strategy and to the smooth flow of data at EU level, but also at the level of Croatia, across different sectors, for the benefit of businesses, researchers and public administration. Reform of C2.3. R2 stems precisely from the core objectives of the EU Digital Strategy: (I) Technology that works for people and (ii) a fair and competitive digital economy.

Investment C2.3. R2-I1 — Establishment of a central interoperability system, which is part of this reform, aims to create an EU-wide one-stop shop to facilitate interaction between citizens, businesses and competent authorities by providing access to information on administrative procedures and assistance services regarding their unique market rights, while reducing administrative burdens.

One of the results of this investment is the development of the Central National Interoperability Portal (SSI portal) as an interface with the basic registers and authoritative sources of information, with the publication of the semantic and technical means and documentation necessary to connect and reuse the available information. A Catalogue of new services connected to the Central Interoperability System will also be established. The Service Catalogue will combine services that are connected to the central bus (GSB) and systems of other important services for citizens and businesses.