To this end, last year saw the important amendment to existing children s allowance regulations, extending state financial assistance to all children, regardless of their parents working status. In particular this has sought to reverse the trend of cuts in public spending for social services, and strongly encourage efforts to share tasks and integrate NGOs, religious communities trade unions, and other interested parties from the civil and private sector into the operation of Croatia s social policy. This doctrinal shift in the understanding and application of social protection, does not waiver the Government s ultimate responsibility to remain the key player in ensuring a safety net for its citizens within the national social protection system. Indeed, Croatia attaches particular importance to the conclusions and recommendations of Copenhagen plus 5, guiding us to future reforms in social welfare. For Croatia s part, future reforms aim to continue the process of decentralization and the transfer of authority to local self-management units, so as to transform these services into more efficient and accessible for all its citizens.
Reforms are also in progress in other important areas of social welfare.
One of the most significant and perhaps the most difficult, is reforming the pension system from the current highly undesirable situation. During the past decade, Croatia has recorded one of the most drastic examples of parity in the ratio between the number of retired persons and employed persons. Consequently, to meet these unprecedented demands on the pension system, the new retirement insurance system introduces three levels of mandatory and elective insurance. Madam Chairperson, Within the framework of the social overhaul, a reform of the healthcare system has already been initiated to essentially improve quality and limit cost increases. Changes envisaged in the system of childcare and education should correspond to the acceleration of the globalization process and allow Croatia to be included in the global trends of knowledge and information.