Projects

Since 2003, the Croatian Employment Service has been implementing projects financed by the European Union with the aim of strengthening employment, meeting the needs of the labour market and monitoring changes in the labour market.

Starting with the CARDS programme, Croatia had the opportunity to use European funds to strengthen participation in the stabilization and association process, build institutions for efficient functioning within the EU, and promote economic and social cohesion. The projects, in the amount of 3.73 million euros, in which the Croatian Employment Service participated, were related to the restructuring of the labour market, local partnerships for employment and the decentralization and reorganization of the CES. The CES also measures its success in strengthening the economic and social cohesion of the most vulnerable groups in Croatian society and their employment through contracting the PHARE programme for 2.23 million euros.

The Croatian Employment Service was an active participant and partner in other Union programs, such as INTERREG (Adriatic Cross-Border Cooperation Programme and Neighbourhood Programme between Slovenia, Hungary and Croatia), Leonardo da Vinci and Erasmus Plus, the Seventh Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration activities (FP7) as well as the programme "Connecting Europe Facility" (CEF), and PROGRESS, through which it dealt with issues of anti-discrimination and diversity in the labour market, matching the supply and demand of skills in the labour market, mobility and similar topics.

The Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) replaced the mentioned programs in the period 2007-2013, with the purpose of helping candidate and potential candidate countries in harmonizing with the EU acquis and preparing for its implementation. Through the IPA programme, the Croatian Employment Service implemented projects to help transition and build institutions (IPA component I in the amount of EUR 1.51 million), cross-border cooperation projects (IPA component II) and projects focused on the development of human resources, namely promoting employment, social inclusion, education and training in accordance with the objectives of the Operational Programme Human Resources Development 2007-2013 (IPA component IV in the amount of EUR 36.7 million).

With Croatia's accession to the European Union, the Croatian Employment Service becomes one of the main beneficiaries of the European Social Fund through the Operational Programme Effective Human Potential 2014-2020. Consequently, it continues working on active inclusion and improvement of access to the labour market, especially for disadvantaged people, issues addressing sustainable integration of young people into the labour market, implementation of local initiatives for employment, and strengthening the availability and quality of information and services in the labour market. Active labour market policy measures are financed through the European Social Fund, and EUR 748.33 million has been contracted. In addition, the CES records a significant contribution to the preservation of the employment of workers who were threatened by job loss due to the consequences of the pandemic through the same fund through the "Support for the preservation of jobs in activities affected by Covid-19 (coronavirus)" in the amount of 111.02 million euros. Through the European Social Fund, projects were implemented that contributed to strengthening labour mobility and international mediation services, improved the business processes of the Croatian Employment Service and further development of occupational standards in the amount of 2.8 million euros.

Regional offices of the Croatian Employment Service have participated and continue to participate as partners in the implementation of Local Employment Initiatives, the Women's Employment Programme - "Make a Wish" and the implementation of outreach and education activities for inactive young people in NEET status - "Find Me".

The Croatian Employment Service with the European Social Fund plus (ESF+) is entering the new programme period 2021-2027. ESF+ is the result of merging the existing European Social Fund (ESF), the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI), the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD), the Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) and the EU Health programme. Through the new Effective Human Resources Programme 2021 - 2027, 2.26 billion euros are made available to the Republic of Croatia for investments in the areas of employment, education, social policy and health from the European Social Fund plus.

For the ESF+ 2021-2027 programme period, the Croatian Employment Service as a beneficiary institution is preparing projects related to the financing of active employment policy measures in order to increase the employment rate and acquire the skills needed in the labour market, especially for vulnerable groups, development projects aimed at improving work with users and digitizing CES services in line with trends, strengthening capacities for human resource management, improving international mediation (EURES), strengthening evaluation capacities and statistical monitoring capacities with a total value of 568.5 million euros.

The work of the Croatian Employment Service on creating reforms, measures and investments is part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) for the period 2021-2026. The CES made a significant contribution to the design of reform investments in two components: "Public Administration, Judiciary and State Property" and "Labour Market and Social Protection". As a beneficiary institution, the CES is responsible for the implementation of reform investments and measures. They are as follows: "Digitalisation and informatization of the CES", "Development and implementation of new targeted ALMP measures for the needs of green and digital transition of the labour market", "Strengthening the system of inclusion and monitoring of vulnerable groups in the labour market through the improvement of CES business processes". "Establishment of a voucher system for the education of employed and unemployed persons and investments", and "Implementation of a voucher system for the education of employed and unemployed persons" in the amount of 198.2 million euros.