National youth program

2.3. Active employment measures
State and local administration in Croatia are trying to reduce the unemployment through 
various measures; in the Croatian system of employment incentives, the most common 
approaches are either demand oriented approaches or the approaches that improve 
mechanisms for employment of long-term unemployed persons. Today, active labour 
market policies are primarily directed towards reducing unemployment and activating 
inactive job searchers. The basic goals of policies and institutions on the labour market 
are most often the following: (1) reducing unemployment, (2) reducing segmentation on 
the labour market and reducing the unfavourable position of risk groups in the country, 
(3) promoting regional, qualification and sector mobility, and (4) increasing the work 
productivity. Unlike the active ones, the measures of passive labour market policies relate 
to the system of support for the unemployed. The new Law on Employment Mediation 
and Rights during the Unemployment, effective from 1 January 2009, changes the institute 
of cash benefit during the unemployment, in a way that should stimulate unemployed 
persons for work activation and acceptance of various prescribed forms of work.
The Croatian Employment Institute conducts activities of vocational guidance for pupils in 
the final years of elementary and high schools, and activities of vocational informing and 
counselling for all target groups, especially youth, unemployed persons and job searchers.
15 
Council of European Union: Council Resolution on Better Intergrating Lifelong Guidance into Lifelong Learn-
ing Strategies – 2905
th 
Education of Youth and Culture Council meeting.

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In vocational informing and counselling of youth, the Croatian Employment Institute, in 
addition to 120 other institutional users in the area of elementary school, high school, 
university and adult education, uses the vocational guidance program MOJ IZBOR (MY 
CHOICE). This program in electronic form, among other things, contains relevant information 
about possibilities of acquiring professional qualifications in the Republic of Croatia, i.e. 
educational programs for individual professions. Each year the Croatian Employment 
Institute updates the program with new information from education and employment 
areas. The second version of the program is in use, with the descriptions of 300 professions 
and possibilities of educating for the professions, and the third version of the program for 
all users is being created.
In addition to general programs, the Croatian Employment Institute also offers a number of 
measures directed towards special groups of unemployed persons. It continually conducts 
programs of training young Roma for work, their additional training and retraining in 
order to ensure their higher employment. The measures encompass 216 persons, of which 
115 persons members of Roma ethnic minority aged 15 to 29. The Public Work measure 
encompasses 86 persons, the Professional Training for an Unknown Employer measure 
encompasses 10 persons and the Subsidising Roma Employment measure with the 
duration of 24 months encompasses 19 persons from Roma ethnic minority.
The Croatian Employment Institute is also developing a model of partnership in vocational 
guidance of pupils on the local level. In addition to standard activities of the Croatian 
Employment Institute in implementation of vocational guidance, this model also includes 
compatible activities of elementary and high schools in informing students and parents 
about educational programs of high schools, activities of the Croatian Chamber of Trades 
and Crafts, particularly concerning the enrolment in rare crafts professions, as well as the 
activities of employers in promotion of professions that provide pupils with more detailed 
information and familiarizing with the work of certain, especially rare professions.
Measures for youth from the Annual Plan for Stimulation of Employment for 2007 relate to 
co-financing of employment of young people with no work experience until 29 years of age, 
to employment of long-term unemployed persons and to encouraging the employment 
of persons without professions (with elementary school as the highest level of education) 
in public works. Generally, the measures for young people aim at: acquiring first work 
experience; shorter period of waiting for the first employment; opening opportunities for 
internship to persons with higher levels of education; acquiring independence for work in 
profession and enabling first work experience to persons with lower levels of education.
The results of the implementation of measures from the Annual Plan for Stimulation of 
Employment for 2006 and 2007 indicate that the measures directed to young people 
up to 29 years of age had the best results in Measure 6 – Financing of Education for an 
Unknown Employer, through which in 2006 education was financed for a total of 467 young 
persons from the unemployment register, and in 2007 for a total of 1,700 young persons 
from the unemployment register. In 2006, employment supports enabled employment for 
a total of 1,770 young persons from the unemployment register, and in 2007 for a total 
of 2,425 young persons from the unemployment register. The employment of youth with 
lower levels of education and users of social care in the public works program was also co-
financed, and in 2006, the employment was co-financed for a total of 116 young persons 

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from the unemployment register, and in 2007 for a total of 108 young persons from the 
unemployment register.
A contribution to youth employment, especially socially vulnerable youth groups, is the 
Re-socialization of Drug Addicts Program by the Office for the Prevention of Drug Abuse, 
adopted in 2007. The project relates to treated drug addicts who have completed some 
of the addiction treatment programs and rehabilitation in a therapeutic community or 
prison system, and addicts in out-of-hospital treatment and those who have maintained 
abstinence for a longer period of time and who adhere to the prescribed way of treatment. 
According to the Croatian Employment Institute data, during 2008, 53 treated addicts were 
included in the vocational guidance procedure (informing and/or counselling), and the 
assessment of work abilities. Since poor motivation for inclusion in organized education 
and employment forms was noticed, during 2008 only 13 users were included in education 
activities, with 8 of whom the measure of Co-financing of Education for an Unknown 
Employer was used. A total of 16 users of the Project were employed, and the funds from 
the co-financing of employment for special groups of unemployed persons were used by 7 
of them. We must mention that the stated activities are still in progress.
The measures of co-financing employment and financing education for unemployed 
persons from the Croatian Employment Institute register, and according to the Annual 
Plan for Stimulation of Employment for 2007 and 2009, encompassed a total of 41 treated 
addicts, 15 of whom are young unemployed persons up to 29 years of age. In application 
of Measure 4 – Employment of Special Groups of Unemployed Persons, the employment 
of 9 young persons – treated addicts was co-financed, and by Measure 6 – Education for an 
Unknown Employer, the inclusion in educational programs for professions required on the 
labour market was financed for 6 young unemployed treated addicts.
In the employment policy field, in 2008 a Joint Memorandum on Employment Policy 
Priorities was signed with the European Commission, based on which the National 
Employment Action Plan (2009-2010) is created, and which also contains priority goals 
and activities specially directed to youth. For the purpose of harmonization of all policies 
influencing youth employment, goals and measures in this document are harmonized with 
the priority goals and implementation activities in the employment policy field.