Project title: How the Recovery and Resilience Facility is changing Croatian public
policies
(Kako mehanizam za oporavak i otpornost mijenja hrvatske javne politike), Acronym:
CHANGE (FPZG-IP-01)
Thematical area of the project: Public policy
Duration of the project: 48 months (start date: 10/2025 – end date: 09/2029)
Total cost: 80.000,00 EUR (100 % EU contribution NextGenerationEU)

Principle investigator (PI): Assistant professor Mario Munta

Research team members:
Nikola Baketa, PhD (associated external expert, Institute for social research in Zagreb)
Ana Budimir (FPZG)
Assistant professor Anka Kekez Koštro (FPZG)
Associate professor Marko Kovačić (associated external expert, University of Rijeka)
Full professor Ana Petek (FPZG)
Full professor Krešimir Petković (FPZG)
Assistant professor Marjeta Šinko (FPZG)
Assistant professor Borna Zgurić (FPZG)

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The project How the Recovery and Resilience Facility is Changing Croatian Public Policies
analyses the impact of the European Union's Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RRF) on the
creation and content of national public policies using the example of the Republic of Croatia.
The focus is on the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), which is the central
instrument for implementing the RRF at the national level. The aim of the research is to describe
and explain how the RRF, or the NRRP, influences the processes of design and implementation
as well as changes the structure and content of Croatian public policies. The project starts from
the assumption that the RRF, unlike previous instruments of conditionality, operates through

financial incentives linked to clearly defined objectives and instruments, which has the potential
to profoundly influence national policies, including sectors outside the direct competences of the
European Union.
The project is based on three specific objectives: (1) to describe and explain how the content of
the Croatian NRRP is designed, with an emphasis on objectives, instruments, actors and factors;
(2) to describe and explain how the reforms and investments envisaged by the NRRP are
implemented, with which objectives and instruments, and which factors and actors they include;
(3) describe and explain what changes in the content or design of national public policies the
RRF has instigated compared to the previous situation.
Methodologically, the project combines qualitative document analysis and focus groups with
relevant stakeholders. The project relies on the team's previous research on public policy design
in the aspect of public policy goals and extends it to instruments as design elements and to the
process aspect of designing, implementing and changing policies. The results, in addition to
public policy studies, will also contribute to the scientific literature on the Europeanization of
public policies and will be useful to decision makers and analysts of reform processes, especially
in the context of the green and digital transition.
Contact: Assistant professor Mario Munta (mario.munta@fpzg.hr)