USE OF EU FUNDS IN THE CITY OF VODICE

Europska unija je supranacionalna zajednica 27 država čiju zakonodavnu vlast u EU čine Europski parlament kao predstavnik svih građana Unije, Vijeće EU poznato kao i Vijeće ministara te Europska komisija koja je predstavnik europskih interesa. Fondovi Europske unije su glavni razvojni instrumenti za države članice, ali i kandidatkinje za članstvo u Uniji. Države članice koriste Europske strukturne i investicijske fondove (ESI), a kandidatkinje koriste instrument pretpristupne pomoći IPA. Republika Hrvatska je korisnik sredstava Unije od 1995. kada je postala korisnicom programa PHARE dok je od 2004. kao kandidatkinja za pristup korisnica IPA programa. Članica Unije je od 2013. godine od kada koristi ESI fondove. Članice i kandidatkinje definiraju operativne programe prema svojim potrebama te se kroz njih financiraju brojni razvojni projekti odnosno iskorištavaju se sredstva fondova. U Gradu Vodice tijekom godina iskorišteno je više od 100 milijuna kuna iz ESI fondova i IPA programa gdje je Grad Vodice bio nositelj projekta ili jedan od projektnih partnera. Sredstva su omogućila razvoj turizma koji je glavna gospodarska grana Grada, ali i život građana kroz veću zaposlenost, socijalnu uključenost, bolju infrastukturu. Osim navedenih pozitivnih aspekata korištenja sredstava postoji i negativni aspekt korištenja sredstava, a to su komplicirani i administrativno zahtjevni postupci prijave. EU pomoć članicama i kandidatkinjama za članstvo osim kroz IPA program i ESI fondove pomoć pruža i kroz fond solidarnosti, ali i brojne mehanizme pomoći primjerice InvestEU i dr. koji tijekom krize uzrokovane pandemijom COVID-19 virusa proširuju svoja područja djelovanja.The European Union is a supranational community of 27 countries whose legislative power in the EU consists of the European Parliament as the representative of all citizens of the Union, the EU Council known as the Council of Ministers and the European Commission representing European interests. European Union funds are the main development instruments for member states, but also candidates for membership in the Union. Member States use the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI), and candidate countries use the IPA Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance. The Republic of Croatia has been a beneficiary of Union funds since 1995, when it became a beneficiary of the PHARE program. Since 2004 it has been a candidate for accession and a beneficiary of the IPA program. The Republic of Croatia has been a member of the Union since 2013, since when she has been using ESI funds. Members and candidates define operational programs according to their needs and through them numerous development projects are financed. Over the years, the City of Vodice has used more than 100 million kuna from ESI funds and IPA programs where the City was the project holder or one of the project partners. The funds enabled the development of tourism, which is the main economic branch of the City, but also the life of citizens through higher employment, social inclusion, better infrastructure. In addition to the above positive aspects of the use of funds, there is also a negative aspect of the use of funds, which are complicated and administratively demanding application procedures. In addition to the IPA program and ESI funds, the Union also provides assistance to members and candidates for membership through the Solidarity Fund, but also through numerous assistance mechanisms, such as InvestEU and others, which are expanding their areas of action during the crisis caused by the COVID-19 virus pandemic