No. 3 / 2013 - AmCham

ISSUE 3/2013CONTENTSDear Members and Friends,CHAMBER NEWS7 American Standards in Rulemaking -Why Dialogue MattersREPORT8 AmCham Reception to WelcomeCroatia to the European Union10 The Plausible Perspective for CEEand Croatia12 Encouraging Competition Litigationin the EU14 Developing Leaders16 EU funds for Croatia - Just a PipeDream or a Pleasant Reality?24 Stress and Lifestyle Management26 Continental Croatia - Wealth ofDiversity29 Evening for Safe StepsNEWS & INFO17 Members News21 New MembersThe most frequent question to Croatian MEPs, representatives of theCroatian mission to the EU and small AmCham Croatia delegationattending “Welcome to EU” cocktail in Brussels jointly organized byAmCham EU and Croatia in September, was about first Croatian impressionsof EU membership after July 1.Already well known scenarios of first business days of the new memberstate in the EU, which include situations like crowds at the bordersand stress in freight forwarders offices, experienced in Romaniaand Bulgaria in 2007, happened in Croatia too. These children’s diseasesin new customs procedures lasted shortly and were resolvedrather quickly. Beside such visible signs of change, it is not an easy››› andrea dokojelušićExecutive Directortask to sum up quickly what has changed in Croatia with the EU membership. Our Brusselsevent was a good moment for reminiscence: what actually happened in the past 3 months anddo we really feel more European?What has undoubtedly changed since July 1 is more inclusiveness for Croatia in the elite Europeanclub. The small celebration which we organized with our Brussels colleagues, offeredexcellent networking opportunities, but also a closer view to priorities for business and competitivenessin Europe and Croatia. The AmCham EU and Croatia were jointly surprised with theinterest and response of US companies which have their European government affairs officesin Brussels. It is rarely the case that you close registrations and inquiries for the event are stillcoming. Eagerly awaited, one of the first public speeches of Mr. Mimica in commissioner’s rolewas welcomed while Croatian MEPs showed their enhanced networking skills while answeringnumerous questions about Croatia. We were truly honored that H.E. Kenneth Merten, U.S.Ambassador to Croatia, joined us on that occasion and emphasized role of the trusted partnerwhich Croatia now has instead of country which needed support on its way to EU and NATO.The event confirmed that Croatia is perceived as interesting and welcome newcomer. However,what will happen after initial interest of companies interested in new markets, will dependon country’s competitive position relative to other countries. Competitiveness issues are thosewhich AmCham Croatia has been persistently addressing through its policy work. In this issuewe are informing you about recent meetings with key government officials based on severalpolicy initiatives: Croatian competitiveness in CEE with Deputy Prime Minister Grčić, meetingof AmCham and ACEA with representatives of Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natureregarding end of life vehicles, health care initiative for MEAT instead of lowest price criterion inpublic procurement and Labor law amendments. I hope it will be informative and will encourageyou to take part in our policy discussions.30 Member-to-Member DiscountsSincerely, Andrea Doko Jelušić, Executive DirectorIMPRESSUMPublished byAmerican Chamber of Commerce in CroatiaMember of the AmCham NetworkRadnička cesta 47, 10000 ZagrebPhone: 385 1 4836 777 (778), Fax: 385 1 4836 776www.amcham.hr, info@amcham.hrMember of U.S. Chamber of Commerce & AmChams in EuropeEditor in Chief Andrea Doko JelušićManaging Editor Marina VugrinDesign&layout byCover photo courtesy of AmCham EUPrinted by PRINTERA GRUPAThe content of this publication must not be reproduced in full or inpart without prior written permission of the publisher. AmCham reserves publishingdiscretion for all received materials. NOT FOR SALEBoard of GovernorsPresidentIvan Vidaković, Microsoft Hrvatska d.o.o.First Vice-PresidentVedrana Likan, Colliers International d.o.o.Second Vice-PresidentDario Šimović, Cisco Systems HrvatskaSecretary-TreasurerBoška Trbojević, Coca-Cola HBC Hrvatska d.o.o.Untitled GovernorsMislav Blažić, PBZ Card d.o.o.Cherie Ford, PricewaterhouseCoopers d.o.o.Danko Schönwald, Novartis Hrvatska d.o.o.3/2013 ISSUE 3