In the new issue of IRMO aktualno, Nevenka Čučković, PhD, analyses the impact of the new geopolitical circumstances on the processes of the green transition in Croatian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Owing to their size and limited financial capacity, these companies are also the most vulnerable part of the business sector exposed to such large and rapid changes in operations. Regardless of this fact, they nevertheless have to adapt in order to remain competitive on the domestic and global markets.
The changes driven by the new geopolitical circumstances bring a high degree of uncertainty and disruptions to the global market, which spill over into business conditions at home. These new circumstances significantly complicate the ongoing changes in the implementation of green and digital transition policies in the EU and, consequently, in Croatia. Global developments are also affecting the redefinition of existing and the setting of new EU economic priorities, with the primary focus shifting to security policy and the strengthening of military capacities. This can significantly slow down the implementation of policies aimed at achieving climate neutrality by 2050, whose key levers of industrial transformation are precisely the green and digital transition of the EU economy.
The author analyses how Croatian small and medium-sized enterprises are faring in terms of the results of the green transition compared with other EU countries, and what can be done to facilitate their green adjustment as well as the competitive development and sustainability of SMEs in Croatia.
