The Absorption Capacity of the European Union's ESI Funds: The Cases of Croatia, Slovakia and Slovenia

Cilj ovoga rada bilo je utvrđivanje povezanosti tranzicije, kvalitete upravljanja, poštivanja vladavine prava, participacije civilnog društva i procesa javne nabave sa stopama apsorpcije sredstava iz Strukturnih i investicijskih fondova Europske unije. Spomenuti cilj ispunio se komparativnom analizom navedenih činitelja apsorpcije sa stopama apsorpcije u Hrvatskoj, Sloveniji i Slovačkoj za financijska razdoblja 2007. – 2013. i 2014. – 2020. Nalazi istraživanja pokazali su kako svi navedeni faktori, osim participacije civilnog društva, utječu u određenoj mjeri na apsorpciju sredstava iz ESI fondova u Hrvatskoj, Sloveniji i Slovačkoj za navedena razdoblja. Osim toga, istraživanje je pokazalo kako Hrvatska, Slovenija i Slovačka najveće probleme imaju kod poštivanja vladavine prava, odnosno u sustavu kaznenog prava i kontrole korupcije.The main goal of this paper was to determin connection between on one side transition, governance quality, rule of law, participation of the civil society and process of public procurement and on the other side absorption rates of European Union's Structural and Investment Funds. The above-mentioned goal was fulfilled with comparative analysis of absorption's factors compared to absorption rates in Croatia, Slovakia and Slovenia during the financial perspectives 2007. – 2013. and 2014. – 2020. The results of the research showed us that all mentioned factors except participation of civil society in a certain way did have influence at the absorption of ESI funds in Croatia, Slovakia and Slovenia for those periods. Furthermore, the research has shown that Croatia, Slovenia and Slovakia are facing biggest challenges in rule of law particularly in criminal justice and corruption control