From the 1st July 2013, when Croatia joined the European Union, the provisions of the Act on Regulated Professions and Recognition of Foreign Professional Qualifications came into force.
The Act on Regulated Professions and the Recognition of Foreign Professional Qualifications regulates the issue of the recognition of foreign professional qualifications for performing regulated professions in the Republic of Croatia, or rather for the purpose of legal establishment and the free provision of services on a temporary and occasional basis in the Republic of Croatia on the basis of foreign professional qualifications. According to this Act, all persons who wish to provide services by performing a certain regulated profession in the Republic of Croatia (List of regulated professions in the Republic of Croatia), and have acquired a professional qualification abroad, must contact the competent body (professional associations (chambers) or competent ministries) that grants access to that regulated profession in the Republic of Croatia, and have their foreign professional qualification recognised.
Based on this Act, the National ENIC/NARIC Office has the role of the assistance centre for providing information on the recognition of professional qualifications.
The Act on Regulated Professions and the Recognition of Foreign Professional Qualifications is aligned with Directives 2005/36/EC and 2013/55/EU, which guarantee that persons who have acquired their professional qualification in one Member State have access to the same profession in another Member State and can pursue that profession with the same rights as the nationals of that state. The aim of these Directives is to improve the rules of the existing systems for recognition in the light of experience, and at the same time maintain the principles and safeguards for the freedom of establishment that are incorporated into these systems.