Plenković: The goal of cohesion policy is to accelerate the transformation of Croatia in all possible segments

After ten years of membership in the European Union, Croatia has a surplus of almost 12 billion euros, that is, it has that much more left after what it paid as its membership fee - we paid 5.2 billion into the European budget, and withdrew 17.1 billion. "This is important for all those who think that we do not need the European Union and that it has not brought us anything good," Prime Minister Plenković pointed out today at the Conference on the Future of Cohesion Policy, reminding that Croatia has 25 billion euros available from European funds in this decade.

"The aim of the cohesion policy in Croatia is to bring together our national development priorities, to accelerate the transformation of Croatia in all possible segments, to contribute to the creation of jobs and to contribute to greater investments," he said at the opening of the "Conference on the Future of Cohesion Policy after 2027.".
 
Speaking about the importance of this policy, Prime Minister Plenković pointed out that almost a third of the European budget is dedicated to it.
 
"The most important segment of the cohesion policy is essentially the implementation of the Christian principle of solidarity among the member states of the European Union, i.e. that those who are more developed help those who are less developed for various, often objective reasons to reach the average development of the European Union," said the Prime Minister about the fundamental meaning cohesion policy.
 
Croatia has 25 billion euros available from European sources for this decade
 
In the fourth decade of Croatian independence, he pointed out, Croatia has 25 billion euros available from European sources -  which is the highest amount till now.
 
But, he emphasized, it is wrong to talk about taking money as the only advantage of membership in the European Union.
 
"The European Union is first of all a community of rights, a community of values, a community that is the most developed in the world, a community that we wanted to enter," he said.
 
"The aim of the cohesion policy in Croatia is to bring together our national development priorities, to accelerate the transformation of Croatia in all possible segments, to contribute to the creation of jobs and to contribute to greater investments," said Prime Minister Plenković.
 
At the European level, Prime Minister Plenković said, it is important to understand that this policy has its own cross-border dimension, that is, it serves as a bridge for better cooperation between neighboring countries and those who have been in the Union longer with those who have been in it shorter.
 
He recalled several priorities for Croatia in this decade, for which European funds will also be used.
The first is demographic revitalization, the second is digitization, the third is decarbonization, and the fourth is education.
 
"Cohesion means that we are all together, that we function together as a society and community," was the message with which Prime Minister Plenković concluded his speech.

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