Author: Hrvoje Butković
Publication: Proceedings of the 3rd International Scientific and Professional Conference Migration and Identity: Culture, Economy, and the State
Year: 2025.
Publishers: Institute for Migration Research, Zagreb; Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts – Department of Social Sciences
ISBN: 978-953-8580-06-2
Abstract
Most countries today develop policies aimed at attracting high-skilled immigrants, given that they generate additional economic impact, such as productivity growth, in addition to the basic economic effects. The approaches are different, and while some countries prioritize the existence of a job offer, others consider it more important to enable high-skilled immigrants to seek work under certain conditions. For Croatia, managing labor migration has become a key issue since it became a member of the EU in 2013. This opened the European labor market to Croatian citizens, which caused a large-scale emigration of the workforce, while at the same time, there was a strong immigration wave from the third countries. This situation has forced Croatia to continuously develop a legal framework that regulates the arrival, status, and rights of foreign workers of all educational backgrounds. The chapter analyzes the provisions of the revised European blue card directive. It seeks to determine whether Croatia can reverse trends based on the given European framework and previous practice and become an attractive destination for high-skilled workers.
The full article is available in Croatian at the following link:
https://imin.hr/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Zbornik-MI3-2025-2.pdf?lang=hr
