All comparisons are with the figures for 1 December 2020, the previous reporting date.
Pending single market cases: 22 (4 new cases and 8 cases closed, including 4 on transport; last report: 26 pending cases) – a decrease of 4 cases and below the EU average number of cases.
EU average = 27 cases
After a steady and understandable increase since Croatia’s accession to the EU in 2014, the number of cases fell by 15% in the last reporting period.
The Commission launched 120 new cases against Member States in the reporting period (besides those for late transposition), and these were still pending on 1 December 2021. A total of 4 cases were launched against Croatia, which is in line with the EU average. Croatia is also in line with the EU average in terms of cases that have been resolved since December 2020 (8).
Problematic sectors: the environment (6 cases); energy (5 cases). Together, these make up 50% of all pending cases.
Average case duration: 33.9 months for the 21 single market cases not yet sent to the European Court of Justice (last report: 23.5 months) – a marked increase of 10.4 months – the longest-ever average case duration for Croatia but still well below the EU average.
EU average = 42.8 months
The average duration of Croatian cases has increased by 34% in the last 3 years. However, Croatia is one of 6 Member States whose cases take less, on average, than the 36-month indicative target. Only 4 of Croatia’s 21 cases are more than 5 years old (the oldest one, on air transport, has been running for 7 years); 13 cases have lasted between 1 and 5 years; 4 cases (whose average duration is less than 12 months) have been launched in the reporting period.
Time taken to comply with Court rulings: no single market case is yet at this stage of the procedure (last report: same).
EU average = 46.8 months