Project Summary

EUROPEAN VALUES IN A NEW MEMBER STATE: CROATIA IN THE FIRST FIVE YEARS OF EU MEMBERSHIP

Centre Miko Tripalo’s project “European Values in a New Member State: Croatia in the First Five Years of EU Membership” will focus on understanding the importance of adopting, respecting, and implementing fundamental European values ​​in member states. It will also point to the necessity of opening up a dialogue and teaching what these values represent, what their intrinsic value for European societies is, and how national and local actors (media, civil society, academic community) can act to safeguard their promotion and protection in different sectors of society.

As part of the project, European values will be addressed and examined through two thematic areas in the context of Croatian society. The first thematic unit, Citizen’s Rights, will focus on the problems and challenges that stand in the way of strengthening democracy in Croatia as a new member state, both at the national and at the local level. It will also examine the impact of fundamental European values ​​on the process of democratic decision-making and governance, as well as the understanding of these values ​​among those political (political parties) and social (civil society organizations, media, interest groups, academia) actors who oversee, study, and protect the democratic political order from weakening and collapsing. The second thematic unit, Equality before the Law, relates to the recognition of the importance of national, economic, cultural, religious, linguistic, and any other diversity as the cornerstone of the European integration project. In this context, the focus will be on issues of equality before the law, tolerance towards minority groups, multiculturalism, and the protection of individual rights and freedoms, as well as fairness, justice, and access to legal institutions.

The objectives of the project are to encourage dialogue about the understanding of European values in Croatian society and to explore the influence of these values on specific segments of public life (populism, Euroscepticism, role of media, local democracy, justice system reform, minority rights, equal access to justice, and rule of law in a transitional economy). Moreover, the project will strive to increase the level of understanding and awareness of the impact of Croatian membership in the EU on the preservation and promotion of fundamental European values in Croatian society.

These objectives will be accomplished through the following project activities (events and outputs):

1. Kick-off Meeting

2. Roundtable Debate Citizen’s Rights and Challenges to Democracy in Croatia

3. Roundtable Debate Justice, Equality, and Diversity in Croatia

4. International Conference European Values, Democracy, and Positioning of Croatia in the Future of the EU

5. Series of four Guest Lectures for Students

6. Publication European Values in Croatian Society, policy paper and on-line content (web site and social media)


THE PROJECT IS CO-FUNDED BY