Financing Development Projects In New Eu Financial Perspective 2014-2020

The EU funds represent an important source of financing development projects in the Republic of Croatia. Only well-prepared projects on national, regional and local level, involvement of potential beneficiaries of European projects in early phases into the programming and planning process of strategic documents based on bottom-up approach and larger investment of budget means through well-elaborated plan of development programs will be vital for successful use of structural and investment funds in new EU financial perspective 2014-2020. As the space for the increase of absorption of capacity of EU means existed even in the pre-accession period, the need for additional improvement of capacities of Croatian stakeholders for realization of financing their projects from EU funds grew significantly with new and more abundant funds. Therefore, one of the most important priorities of Croatian society as a whole is to focus their strengths to making and implementing of high-grade projects that will com ete for co-financing from EU funds, equally with projects from other member states. In order to make the Republic of Croatia more competitive in using structural instruments of cohesion policy it is necessary to involve relevant institutions into the process of preparation of strategic documents in the next period, and especially the present and future beneficiaries of the means to include and identify all needs and development priorities of the Republic of Croatia. Those that implement the projects know exactly which investments should be supported. With this kind of bottom-up partnership approach the prioritising of strategic references of future Operational programs and Partnership agreement would be made much easier, and based on that the member states use EU funds. If this should not be the case with the Republic of Croatia as a new member state, the priorities of financing will be general and not sufficiently adjusted to real needs of those that will implement the projects on field, and that will negatively reflect development results we wish to accomplish in the future financial perspective. It is important not to neglect financial aspect of the projects, i.e. to ensure enough means for their pre-financing and co-fi nancing, in order to implement the projects until the end. In major infrastructural projects it is more important to ensure financial sustainability after the end of a project and European financing.