Assistant Minister for European Affairs Hrvoje Marušić 26 March attended the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue conference, co-organized by the German Foreign Office, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy and the leading energy associations. Marušić underlined that Croatia supported the efforts to achieve an energetically independent EU. He added that Croatia’s energy priorities – the Krk LNG terminal, carbohydrate exploitation and the Adriatic-Ionian Pipeline – are in the common EU interest in the context of source and route diversification, with a view to both the competitiveness of Europe’s economy and its security.
During his stay in Berlin, Marušić met with State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs Joerg Asmussen, presenting Croatia’s views on the restrictions regarding the employment of Croatian workers in certain EU member states, including Germany, i.e. the views on Germany’s Minimum Wage Act.
Marušić stressed that the free movement of workers was a fundamental part of freedoms that constituted the EU single market and as such was pivotal for the realization of the EU priority goals – economic growth and employment. He added that Croatia wanted to continue stimulating the training and mobility of workers in order to contribute to the economic growth and competitiveness on the EU and national level. Both officials agreed that Europe, which apart from economic crisis is also experiencing a crisis of identity, today more than ever needed its fundamental values confirmed, in which the freedom of movement plays an important part. Regarding the free movement of workers, Marušić and Asmussen stressed it was important to prevent abusing the social systems of the member states, but that solution should not be sought by restricting the freedom of movement.