The Croatian public sector employs a quarter of the country’s workforce or 400,000 people, a study by Zagreb-based Institute of Economics and Friedrich Ebert Foundation shows.

Out of those 400,000 people, 52,000 are civil servants.

The authors of the study released yesterday (Mon) warn that an uneven distribution, poor organisation and a lack of competence are bigger problems than the sector’s size.

Croatia will find itself amongst tough competition once it is in the European Union, experts warn. Higher competitiveness depends on serious reform of public administration.

A successful reform should introduce a system of evaluation and rewards based on performance according to transparent and measurable criteria. The whole sector needs to be fully professionalised and depoliticised, the study suggests.