As part of the “Get Informed and Make a Difference” campaign, a round table was held in Rijeka 15 February on “Youth and Employment”, organized by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs in cooperation with the European Commission Representation and European Parliament Information Office in Croatia.
The topics most discussed were the European Youth Guarantee, Croatia’s measures to stimulate youth employment and successful models from other countries, notably the dual education and training system of Germany and Austria. The participants also wanted to know about the social and market economy, social dialogue and flexicurity, as well as educational system reform that would reflect market demands.
Despite the negative indicators prevailing in regard to employment and labour market, there are some positive examples as well, said Assistant Minister of European Affairs Hrvoje Marušić, citing self-employment – a measure that has been implemented since 2010 and yielded the best results in 2013. He underlined the need for an immediate reform of the education system as well as continued work and dialogue among all parts of society – public and private services, social partners and civil society organizations. “No employment measure can replace economic growth,” he said, adding that Croatia supported the EU reindustrialization measures, which is to be one of the topics of the upcoming European Council meeting in March.
Apart from Assistant Minister Marušića, who was also the moderator, the participants included Assistant Minister of Labour and Pension System Tatjana Dalić, MP and Kraljevica Mayor Nada Turina-Đurić, German language professor and Rijeka Faculty of Law Nada Bodiroga-Vukobrat, President of the Croatian Youth Network Sven Janovski, representative of the Union of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia Darko Šeperić and human resources specialist at JGL Jelena Tomac Grbac. Also participating were Rijeka deputy mayors Marko Filipović and Miroslav Matešić and Deputy Head of Primorsko-Goranska County Marko Boras Mandić.
The day before, on 14 February, a seminar for journalists was held in Opatija on “Economic Policy and Media Participation”, with addresses delivered by Assistant Minister of European Affairs Hrvoje Marušić, Head of the European Commission Representation in Croatia Branko Baričević and Opatija Mayor Ivo Dujmić.
Paolo Magagnotti, President of the European Journalists Association, spoke of the European public space and the role of the media, while Večernji List Brussels reporter Tomislav Krasnec talked about Croatian reporters’ experience with shaping the public opinion in the EU. European Commission representative Michael Vedso (DG for Economic and Financial Affairs) presented the European Semester 2014.
Representative of the European Parliament Information Office in Croatia Jasna Marić Krajačić spoke about the importance of the upcoming European Parliament elections scheduled for 25 May. “These are the second most important democratic elections in the world, at which 400 million people can cast their vote for the new EP composition that will not only shape the EU policies for the next five years but choose the European Commission’s president as well,” she said. Croatian voters will choose 11 European MPs for the 2014-2019 period.
“Get Informed and Make a Difference” is a series of lectures and round tables that will move from Rijeka and Opatija to Varaždin and Osijek, and are aimed at informing the Croatian citizens about the current European topics and the upcoming EP elections.