(1996). Croatia constructed. The European Legacy: Vol. 1, Fourth International Conference of the International Society for the study of European Ideas, pp. 415-420.

The Committee for Ethics in Science and Higher Education was created in Croatia as a national body appointed by the Parliament. Thus Croatia became one of a handful of countries with national means of responding to allegations of scientific misconduct. The Committee’s duties, with the help of the Ethics Code, include promotion of ethical norms and values in science and higher education. The CESHE will work on cases of possible research misconduct and alleged disregard for the ethical norms (...) associated with research. (shrink)

As Croatia makes the transition from one political system and type of economy to another, there are inevitable social and political changes that have a profound affect on the healthcare system. This article charts some of the progress of change with respect to patients’ rights and informed consent.

The essay outlines the development of the history of science and medicine in Croatia since the first half of the 20th century, addressing in more detail some recent research trends that seem to have the potential to reshape and reposition this relatively marginal field within the national academic landscape. It examines the origins and implication of the “historicization” of the history of science, as manifested in, among other things, tentative convergence between the history of science and medicine and “general” (...) history. Also considered are changes in the understanding of what counts as science and who as a historian of science within a specialist community in a small country that has struggled with balancing between the national and wider contexts, and with embracing newer conceptual frameworks and methodological approaches. (shrink)

IntroductionA framework for understanding the interrelationship of individual and environmental factors that influence adolescent health and well-being, as well as opportunities for policy-level interventions, is known as Positive Youth Development. The current study represents one of the largest studies of Croatian adolescents to date, and aimed to examine associations between school and family factors linked to PYD, and mental health outcomes experienced by Croatian youth.MethodsA multi-site survey study was conducted among adolescents residing in the five most populous cities in (...) class='Hi'>Croatia, with the aim of examining cross-sectional associations of family and school factors with adolescent mental health. The mean age of participants was 16.3 years, and 52.5% of participants were female. School and family factors included school attachment, school commitment, family communication, and family satisfaction. Depression, anxiety, and stress were assessed as outcomes. Multigroup structural equation modeling was used to examine relations of interest among female and male adolescents.ResultsAmong school factors, increased school attachment was found to be significantly associated with reduced depression, anxiety, and stress for female adolescents, and with decreased depression and stress for male adolescents. Increased school commitment was significantly associated with decreased depression and anxiety for female adolescents; conversely, an increase in school commitment was associated with an increase in anxiety and stress for male adolescents. Increases in family communication were significantly associated with reduced depression, anxiety, and stress only for male adolescents, while increased family satisfaction was significantly associated with reduced depression, anxiety, and stress for female adolescents and with decreased depression and stress for male adolescents.ConclusionFindings suggest that interventions for mental health promotion and prevention of internalizing problems should address both school and family contexts, and may be more effective when accounting for differing developmental experiences of female and male adolescents. (shrink)

This article explores the influence of the Catholic church on educational policy, more specifically on sex education, in Croatia. It explores tensions between secular and religious discourses regarding the introduction of a sex education programme supported by the Catholic church into Croatian schools. The presence of the Catholic doctrine in the educational system provided the basis for the introduction of sex education with a religious framework, namely the GROZD sex education programme. The GROZD programme triggered a public discussion that (...) soon became a polarization between liberal and traditional discourses. In the discussion, the traditional/catholic value system was used as a justification for the introduction of a sex education programme that was seen by opponents as harmful. (shrink)

The article gives an overview of the past and present situation on the Croatian lesbian scene – from the period prior to the war in Croatia, after the war, right up to the present situation. The ‘coming out’ process of Croatian lesbians during the 1980s and 1990s has been determined by social and cultural homophobic indoctrination, which sends out clear messages about how deviant and unacceptable homosexuality is. Heterosexuality has traditionally been the imperative of social normality within Croatian society. (...) Not being compatible with the social norm, lesbians are condemned by society to failure and isolation. Nevertheless, after the 10-year rule of a strongly nationalistic, rightist and patriarchal regime, recent political changes have brought Croatia to the threshold of a new transitional period. Even though the new Social Democratic and Liberal coalition government is sending mixed signals on many issues to do with gender equality, the homosexual population of Croatia can finally hope for better times to come. (shrink)

The paper outlines the historical development of question about ambiguous and mysterious human nature, in particular considering the reasons and conditions for the founding of modern philosophical anthropology. Subsequently, it brings an overview of the conceptual beginnings and directions of anthropological research in Croatia. The focus is on the following questions: When did the investigations begin in the field of philosophical anthropology, in what kind of thinking environments were they shaped and what scientific achievements were reached? The presentation brings (...) to light the cognition that philosophical anthropology in Croatia got its first contours and valuable contributions to the very beginning of the contemporary renewal of this discipline, shortly after its phenomenological and scientific revivals in the ventures of Scheler and Plessner. The development of this research branch is, according to Hans Lankʼs model, divided into four main conceptual orientations. The anthropology from above shows the creative contributions of Stjepan Zimmermann, Vilim Keilbach, Rajmund Kupareo, Miljenko Belić, Ante Kusić, Josip Ćurić, Hrvoje Lasić and Ivan Koprek. The anthropology from below is illustrated by the reference to the research by Vera Ehrlich-Stein, Rudi Supek, the Institute of Anthropology, Pavao Rudan and Darko Polšek. For the anthropology from culture, the philosophical achievements of Pavao Vuk-Pavlović, Vladimir Filipović, Vjekoslav Mikecin, Esad Ćimić, Nikola Skledar, Branka Brujić, Milan Galović and Mihaela Girardi-Karšulin were delineated. Under the anthropology from history, the works of Predrag Vranicki, Milan Kangrga, Vanja Sutlić, Gaja Petrović, Hotimir Burger, Mislava Kukoč and Raul Raunić are outlined. The conclusion summarises four insights. 1. Philosophical anthropology is an under-researched and not enough appreciated field, which represents one of the most fertile currents of thought in the 20th century. 2. Creative contributions are presented in all four major orientations. 3. In the context of anthropological research, lively dialogue and a fruitful meeting of different worldviews were realised. 4. The beginnings of the development of the discipline should be moved earlier in history than previously considered, from the 1950s and 1960s to the early 1930s. The last insight points to the need for further exploration of the perceived, and so far largely neglected, continuity of anthropological themes and related ideas in the history of recent philosophy in Croatia. (shrink)

Croatia is a transitional society in that it is a country emerging from a socialist command economy toward a market-based economy with ensuing structural changes of a social and political nature—some extending into the healthcare system. A legacy from our past is that, until now, Croatian healthcare institutions have had no real experience with clinical ethics support services. When clinical cases arise presenting complex ethical dilemmas in treatment options, the challenges presented to the medical team are substantial. The case (...) described below recently occurred on a ward in a university hospital in Croatia. An unexpected request from the patient’s parents created a number of issues that needed to be addressed by the medical team, which was made more difficult by the lack of clinical ethics support services. Such cases press the question currently being debated as to what type of ethics support services would be suitable for Croatia and why. (shrink)

There is an emerging awareness of the possibility of conflicts of interest in the practice of medicine in Croatia. The paper examines areas within the medical profession where conflicts of interest can and have occurred, probably not only in Croatia. Particularly addressed are situations when a doctor may have dual obligations and how independent ethics committees can help in decreasing the influence of a conflict of interest. The paper also presents extracts from the Croatian Code of Ethics for (...) the medical profession that address problems of conflict of interest. (shrink)

Court interpreting in Croatia is a very unregulated field especially regarding the training and the skills that are to be acquired in order to pro- vide accurate translation at courts. One of the prerequisites according to the Regulations on Court Interpreters in Croatia is knowledge of the structure of judicial power, state government and legal terminology. Although the Regulations prescribe that the training should last no longer than two months, the organisations providing such training shorten this to three (...) or four days. Taking into account all that has been said one realizes that in such short time a per- son cannot be properly qualified to practice as a court interpreter. According to the EU Directive on the right to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings member states should provide adequate training in order to ensure the quality of interpretation and to avoid that suspected or accused persons complain that the quality of interpretation was not good enough to secure the fairness of the proceeding, which according to Article 2 of the Directive they have the right to. Since Croatia joined the European Union on 1 July 2013, it will have to change its Regulations on Court Interpreters in order to com- ply with this Directive. This paper will try to analyze the problems within the scope of court interpreter’s profession in Croatia both in civil and in criminal proceedings. Several examples will be suggested as the possible model for modifying court interpreting in Croatia. Since this profession is often underrated by the national courts, the paper will suggest ways to prevent such views and point out the importance of good court interpretation. (shrink)

In Croatia, the subject of medical ethics, or bioethics, was introduced into the curriculum in the early 1990s at the medical schools of the University of Rijeka and the University of Zagreb. Today, bioethics education has become a basic part of undergraduate medical education not only in Rijeka and Zagreb but also in Osijek.

Socio-psychological integration is a dimension of integration affecting refugees and receiving community members alike, and is related to those integration goals which promote positive intergroup attitudes, close social proximity, interrelation of social networks, low levels of perceived intergroup threat, positive intergroup contact, etc. The goal of this study was to explore the differences in the levels of indicators of socio-psychological integration in both groups. Six hundred receiving community members in Croatia, and 149 refugees from Syria in Croatia participated (...) in the field study. The results generally show that the refugees have more positive attitudes towards receiving community members, a closer social proximity and lower levels of perception of symbolic and realistic intergroup threat than vice-versa. Intergroup contact in Croatia is very rare, posing an interesting setting for the integration process. Potential implications of these findings are discussed. (shrink)

BackgroundThe European Charter of Patients' Rights (ECPR) presents basic patients' rights in health care. We analysed the characteristics of patients' complaints about their rights submitted through the official complaints system and to a non-governmental organization in Croatia.MethodsThe official system for patients’complaints in Croatia does not have a common pathway but offers different modes for addressing patient complaints. In this cross-sectional study, we analysed the reports about patients’ complaints from the official regional committees sent to the Ministry of Health. (...) We also analysed the complaints received by the Croatian Association for the Protection of Patient’s Rights (CAPR) and mapped them to the ECPR.ResultsThe aggregated official data from the Ministry of Health in 2017 and 2018 covered only 289 individual complaints from 10 out of 21 counties. Complaints were most frequently related to secondary and tertiary healthcare institutions and details were not provided. CAPR received a total of 440 letters, out of which 207 contained 301 complaints about violations of patients’ rights in 2017–2018. The most common complaint was the Right of Access to health care (35.3%) from the ECPR, followed by the Right to Information (29.9%) and the Right to Safety (21.7%). The fewest complaints were about the Right to Complain (1.9%), Right to Innovation (1.4%), Right to Compensation (1.4%), and Right to Preventive Measures (1.0%).ConclusionsReporting and dealing with patients’ complaints about violations of their patients’ rights does not appear to be effective in a system with parallel but uncoordinated complaints pathways. Mapping patient's complaints to the ECPR is a useful tool to assess the perception of patients’ rights and to plan actions to improve the complaints system for effective health care. (shrink)

In the opinion of many Slovenian and Croatian scholars, the constitutional and legislative design of citizen-initiated referendums in their respective countries was in many ways flawed. Referendums initiated by citizens have caused, at least from the point of view of governments in these two countries, many unexpected constitutional, political and/or economic problems. Over the years, several unsuccessful constitutional reforms of the institute of referendum have been attempted both in Slovenia and Croatia. In 2013, Slovenia finally attained its ‘constitutional moment’ (...) in which it was possible to reach an almost universal consensus in the National Assembly on constitutionally redesigning the legislative referendum. On the other hand, several attempts by the Croatian Parliament to amend the constitutional provision relating to citizens’ initiatives have come to nothing due to the interests of the major parties in the constitutional amendment process being different. (shrink)

BackgroundThere has been no in-depth research of public attitudes on withholding or withdrawing life-prolonging treatment, euthanasia, assisted suicide and physician assisted suicide in Croatia. The aim of this study was to examine these attitudes and their correlation with sociodemographic characteristics, religion, political orientation, tolerance of personal choice, trust in physicians, health status, experiences with death and caring for the seriously ill, and attitudes towards death and dying. MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted on a three-stage random sample of adult citizens (...) of the Republic of Croatia, stratified by regions, counties, and locations within those counties. In addition to descriptive statistics, ANOVA and Chi-square tests were used to determine differences, and factor analysis, correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis for data analysis.Results38.1% of the respondents agree with granting the wishes of dying people experiencing extreme and unbearable suffering, and withholding life-prolonging treatment, and 37.8% agree with respecting the wishes of such people, and withdrawing life-prolonging treatment. 77% of respondents think that withholding and withdrawing procedures should be regulated by law because of the fear of abuse. Opinions about the practice and regulation of euthanasia are divided. Those who are younger and middle-aged, with higher levels of education, living in big cities, and who have a more liberal worldview are more open to euthanasia. Assisted suicide is not considered to be an acceptable practice, with only 18.6% of respondents agreeing with it. However, 40.1% think that physician assisted suicide should be legalised. 51.6% would support the dying person’s autonomous decisions regarding end-of-life procedures.ConclusionsThe study found low levels of acceptance of withholding or withdrawing life-prolonging treatment, euthanasia, assisted suicide and physician assisted suicide in Croatia. In addition, it found evidence that age, level of education, political orientation, and place of residence have an impact on people’s views on euthanasia. There is a need for further research into attitudes on different end-of-life practices in Croatia. (shrink)

Objectives: To study knowledge and attitudes of hospital ethics committee members at the first workshop for ethics committees in Croatia.Design: Before/after cross-sectional study using a self administered questionnaire.Setting: Educational workshop for members of hospital ethics committees, Zagreb, 2003.Main outcome measurements: Knowledge and attitudes of participants before and after the workshop; everyday functioning of hospital ethics committees.Results: The majority of the respondents came from committees with at least five members. The majority of ethics committees were appointed by the governing bodies (...) of their hospitals. Most committees were founded after the implementation of the law on health protection in 1997. Membership structure and functions were established on the basis of that law. Analysis of research protocols was the main part of their work. Other important functions—education, case analysis, guidelines formation—were neglected. Members’ level of knowledge was not sufficient for the complicated tasks they were supposed to perform. However, it was significantly higher after the workshop. Most respondents felt their knowledge should be improved by additional education. Their views on certain issues and bioethical dilemmas displayed a high level of paternalism and over protectiveness, which did not change after the workshop.Conclusions: The committees developed according to bureaucratic requirements. Furthermore, there are concerns about members’ knowledge levels. More efforts need to be made to use education to improve the quality of the work. Additional research is necessary to explore ethics committees’ work in Croatia especially in the hospital setting. (shrink)

This paper analyzes specific situation in Croatia regarding role, development, and perspectives of employee participation in ownership and financial results. The model of enterprise privatization in Croatia resulted with a large involvement of employees in the enterprises' ownership. As the first phase of privatization in Croatia is approaching to its end, new, genuine mechanisms of development of the employee financial participation are beginning to emerge. Among them, ESOP plans and management and employee buyouts (MEBO) seem to be (...) most appealing. Such practices can be found primarily in enterprises where a functional symbiosis between management and employees has been preserved or developed, where assets of the enterprise have also been preserved, and an organizational culture based on identification with enterprise and confidence with management has been developed. It seems that such a mutual reliance between employees and management can be very successful in assuring good operation and financial results of (especially large) enterprises during and after the process of transition. (shrink)

The novelty of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is that it is occurring in a globalized society enhanced by digital capabilities. Our aim was to analyze the psychological and emotional states of participants in different pandemic-related contexts, with a focus on their digital and physical distancing behaviors. The online survey was applied during the ascending phase of the pandemic in March 2020 in two neighboring EU countries: Italy and Croatia. The study subjects involved four groups, two directly affected (...) by epidemiological measures and two serving as controls—(1) participants from Italy who were in lockdown (Italy group), (2) participants from Croatia who were not in lockdown but who were in direct contact with an infected person and underwent epidemiological measures (CRO-contact group), (3) participants from Croatia who were in an analogous situation but not near the same infected person (CRO-no contact group), and (4) participants from Croatia who were not aware of any infected person (CRO-unrelated group). The survey consisted of validated scales of psychological and emotional states, and custom-made questionnaires on the digital (online) and physical (off-line) behavior of the participants. The Italy group in lockdown had higher self-perceived scores for depression, stress, post-traumatic intrusion, and avoidance, as well as the highest digital activity and physical distancing than the not-in-lockdown Croatian groups. The insight into the extent of online activities and off-line isolation allowed for the introduction of Digital Activity and Physical Distancing Scores. Self-perceived post-traumatic avoidance was higher in both the Italy and CRO-contact groups than the control CRO-no contact and CRO-unrelated groups, and higher avoidance correlated with higher Digital Activity and Physical Distancing Scores. Being in direct contact with the infected person, the CRO-contact group had no other alterations than unexpectedly lower post-traumatic hyperarousal when compared with the Italy group. The Italy group in lockdown demonstrated higher self-perceived psychological toll together with higher digital activity and physical distancing than Croatian groups not in lockdown, even when compared with the affected CRO-contact group. The study outcomes suggest that the general emergency measures influenced citizens in lockdown more than exposure to the virus through direct contact with an infected person. (shrink)

(1996). The role of the state in managing the privatization process in Croatia: Why is the state not withering away? The European Legacy: Vol. 1, Fourth International Conference of the International Society for the study of European Ideas, pp. 601-613.

Healthcare professionals working in intensive care units are often involved in end-of-life decision-making. No research has been done so far about these processes taking place in Croatian ICUs. The aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions, experiences, and challenges healthcare professionals face when dealing with end-of-life decisions in ICUs in Croatia. A qualitative study was performed using professionally homogenous focus groups of ICU nurses and physicians of diverse professional and clinical backgrounds at three research sites. In total, (...) six institutions at the tertiary level of healthcare were included. The constant comparative analysis method was used in the analysis of the data. Differences were found between the perceptions and experiences of nurses and physicians in relation to end-of-life decisions. Nurses’ perceptions were more focused on the context and features of immediate care, while physicians’ perceptions also included the wider sociocultural context. However, the critical issues these specific professional groups face when dealing with end-of-life decisions seem to overlap. A high variability of practices, both between individual practitioners and between different organizational units, was omnipresent. The lack of adequate legal, professional, and clinical guidelines was commonly expressed as one of the most critical source of difficulties. (shrink)

Bioethical contents in the Croatian educational system are taught not only at the university level, but also in secondary schools. Namely, in 1995, as an alternative to confessional religious teaching, the Ethics was introduced as a separate school subject. Present teaching program of Ethics came into the force in 2003. Ethics is taught during all the four years of secondary schools, while the third year is dedicated to bioethical topics only. This presentation will firstly try to explain the context of (...) ethics and bioethics education in secondary schools in Croatia ; afterwards the teaching program of Ethics will be presented, with an accent on bioethical contents ; and finally, we will point to some problems with which the teaching of ethics and bioethics at this educational level is confronted. (shrink)

Glavni cilj ovoga istraživanja bio je povijesno-komparativnom analizom nastavnih planova i programa, odnosno kurikuluma za osnovnu školu istražiti i analizirati ulogu, zastupljenost i načine realizacije školskih kurikuluma u razdoblju od 1951. do 2019. godine. Prema dobivenim rezultatima uočljivo je da se značaj, uloga i aktivnosti školskog kurikuluma razlikuju u različitim reformama, a analizom kurikulumskih dokumenata utvrđeno je da se aktivnostima i sadržajima iz područja školskog kurikuluma želi pridonijeti individualizaciji i fleksibilnosti nastavnog procesa, zadovoljavanju specifičnih mogućnosti, potreba i interesa učenika,povezivanju obiteljskog (...) doma te lokalne i šire zajednice sa školskim okruženjem, poticanju stvaralaštva, interdisciplinarnosti, zajedništva, stjecanju generičkih kompetencija i usavršavanju opće-obrazovnih kompetencija. Na temelju dobivenih rezultata i suvremenih odgojnoobrazovnih polazišta, autorice su predložile smjernice za suvremene školske kurikulume. The main goal of this research was to investigate and analyze the role, representation and ways of realization of school curricula in the period from 1951 to 2019 in the Republic of Croatia using a historical-comparative analysis of curricula, specifically primary school curricula. According to the obtained results, the authors conclude that the importance, role and activities of the school curriculum differ in different eras and within different reform attempts. The analysis of curriculum documents shows that the activities and contents of the school curriculum aim to contribute to individualization and flexibility of opportunities, according to the needs and interests of students, connecting the family home and local and wider community with the school environment, encouraging creativity, interdisciplinarity, togetherness, acquiring generic competencies and improving educational competencies. Based on the obtained results and the foundations of contemporary education the authors proposed guidelines for contemporary school curricula. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to analyse and compare the graphic elements present on book covers published in Croatia from 2012 to 2018, and compare the data with the graphic elements on book covers from five other European book markets. Hofstede’s model of cultural dimensions was used in the research to examine the ways in which the design of book covers is influenced by culture. The graphic elements on book covers from Croatia and a sample of five (...) European countries were compared using the visual content analysis method. Element frequency scores were correlated with indexes from Hofstede’s model of national culture and interpreted on the basis of the existing literature using the chi-squared test. Both the quantitative and qualitative analyses were carried out on the sample of 633 book covers. (shrink)

SummaryA detailed database on the genealogy of the Makarska region in Croatia has been created. The twinning rate for three villages in the region were analysed over the period 1870 to 1940 and factors such as mother's age and birth order are discussed. Of the three villages, Podgora was identified as having the highest twinning rate and consequently records for Podgora were examined further to include almost 400 years of historical data.

The “Lošinj Declaration on Biotic Sovereignty” is a novelty in the consideration of the environment and life in general and a unique document on a global scale. Until the advent of the Declaration, the environment was usually considered in an instrumentalist way, following the prevailing techno-scientific paradigm. The Declaration introduces biotic sovereignty as the starting point for the debate on GMOs, from which the harmfulness or potential benefits of genetic engineering can be assessed. The protection of biotic sovereignty should be (...) one of the crucial values that European and Croatian citizens should defend in the upcoming struggle to change and probably drastically reduce the regulatory regime for genetically modified crops in the European Union and thus also in Croatia. In this paper, we highlight the importance of the “Lošinj Declaration on Biotic Sovereignty” in the context of the emergence of new gene regulation techniques that are becoming a threat to biotic sovereignty. We analyse the lobbying process against the ruling C-528/16 using the example of the scientists united in the network EU-SAGE. The central part of the paper analyses the controversy over a new European Commission study on new genetic techniques and the political context of the conflict between the European Commission and the European Parliament over the authorisation of new seed varieties of genetically modified crops. (shrink)

Use of patient clinical photographs requires specific attention to confidentiality and privacy. Although there are policies and procedures for publishing clinical images, there is little systematic evidence about what patients and health professionals actually think about consent for publishing clinical images. We investigated the opinions of three stakeholder groups at 3 academic healthcare institutions and 37 private practices in Croatia. The questionnaire contained patient photographs with different levels of anonymization. All three respondent groups considered that more stringent forms of (...) permission for were needed identifiable photographs than for those with higher levels of anonymization. When the entire face was presented in a photo only 33% of patients considered that written permission was required, compared with 88% of the students and 89% of the doctors. Opinions about publishing patient photographs differed among the three respondent samples: almost half of the patients thought no permission was necessary compared with one-third of students and doctors. These results show poor awareness of Croatian patients regarding the importance of written informed consent as well as unsatisfactory knowledge of health professionals about policies on the publication of patients’ data in general. In conclusion, there is a need for increasing awareness of all stakeholders to achieve better protection of patient privacy rights in research and publication. (shrink)

There is an emerging awareness of the possibility of conflicts of interest in the practice of medicine in Croatia. The paper examines areas within the medical profession where conflicts of interest can and have occurred, probably not only in Croatia. Particularly addressed are situations when a doctor may have dual obligations and how independent ethics committees can help in decreasing the influence of a conflict of interest. The paper also presents extracts from the Croatian Code of Ethics for (...) the medical profession that address problems of conflict of interest. (shrink)

In anticipation of Croatia’s accession to the European Union, this article assesses the way in which the state has come to terms with the Serbian question and the practice of non-discrimination in the justice sector. The first part offers an historical review of the Serbian question in Croatia and the main laws that discriminated against non-Croats during the war and rule of President Franjo Tudjman (1991–1999). The second part evaluates the nature of judicial reform in light of the (...) external demands placed on Croatia to improve relations with the Serbian minority and recent rulings from the European Court of Human Rights, which have questioned the capacity of the Croatian judiciary to provide an effective remedy in cases of human rights violations. (shrink)

Since the sharing economy is a rather new phenomenon, there is still no official definition of it in the legal framework of Croatia. The continuous development of sharing economy started a few years after the 1998 global and domestic economic crisis stroked Croatia. Namely, a total of eight platforms in the sectors of transportation, accommodation, finance, and online skills could be identified. The total market share of these platforms amounts to estimated market revenue of roughly 106 million EUR. (...) When compared to the other EU Member States, it could be noticed that Croatia falls within the group of countries with a below-average performance by a number of platforms per 1 million population, as well as in the level of revenues compared to national GDP. Figures that are more promising can be detected regarding the collaborative economy’s contribution to national employment, which positions Croatia within the EU average. Future studies should explain in greater depth how the sharing economy poses several new challenges for regulators in Croatia and countries across the EU. In particular, policymakers must comprehend the big picture and provide regulatory guidelines to manage the long-term changes in job markets, public safety, competition, and digital trust. (shrink)