Croatia - National AI Development Plan

Overview

The draft "Nacionalni plan za razvoj umjetne inteligencije do 2032. godine" sets out a national, cross-sectoral approach to stimulate safe and trustworthy AI development and deployment in Croatia while protecting citizens' rights and data. The Government tasked the Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation (MPUDT) to lead drafting and coordination, supported by a working group made up of ministries, the Prime Minister's Office, academia and private sector representatives. The draft is explicitly structured as a long-term plan (to 2032) accompanied by a three-year operational Action Plan for 2026–2028 intended to produce concrete measures, budgets and timelines. Official announcements on the plan and the working group setting are published by MPUDT and the Government of the Republic of Croatia. ([mpudt.gov.hr](https://mpudt.gov.hr/vijesti-8/sjednica-vlade-pri-izradi-planova-kojima-ce-se-regulirati-umjetna-inteligencija-u-fokusu-sigurnost-gradjana-i-njihovih-podataka/30074?lang=hu&utm_source=openai))

Definitions

The draft uses standard definitions consistent with contemporary EU usage: "artificial intelligence" as software and systems that perform tasks requiring human-like cognitive functions; "high-risk AI" as AI applications that may significantly affect safety or fundamental rights (aligned with the EU AI Act classification principles); "public-sector AI adoption" meaning AI solutions used by government entities to deliver public services; "action plan" referring to the operational 2026–2028 package of measures and investments. The draft anchors definitions in EU terminology and national digital strategy vocabulary to facilitate legal and policy alignment with forthcoming implementing legislation. ([mpudt.gov.hr](https://mpudt.gov.hr/pristup-informacijama-6341/savjetovanja-sa-zainteresiranom-javnoscu/radne-skupine-za-izradu-nacrta-prijedloga-zakona-drugih-propisa-i-akata/6230?lang=tr&utm_source=openai))

Governance and Institutional Framework

The draft designates MPUDT as the lead coordinating authority with responsibility for drafting, stakeholder consultation and subsequent implementation oversight. A multi-ministerial working group has been established with named leads and deputies from ministries of finance, health, transport, economy, science and education, agriculture, interior and other relevant institutions. The working group model is intended to ensure policy coherence across public administration and to link national planning with existing digital transformation governance bodies (including entities and capacities previously held by the Central State Office for the Development of the Digital Society, whose functions have been consolidated within the Ministry). The governance model foresees task-specific subgroups (e.g., on skills, data infrastructure, security, public procurement) and engagement channels with industry, academia and civil society. Institutional roles will include drafting implementing measures for the Action Plan, preparing budgetary and funding proposals, coordinating international cooperation, and overseeing monitoring and reporting. ([mpudt.gov.hr](https://mpudt.gov.hr/pristup-informacijama-6341/savjetovanja-s-javnoscu/radne-skupine-za-izradu-nacrta-prijedloga-zakona-drugih-propisa-i-akata/30151?utm_source=openai))

Key Focus Areas

The draft outlines a set of strategic priorities: (1) Policy and regulatory alignment — ensuring national rules, standards and guidance are consistent with EU instruments (including the AI Act) and other international norms; (2) Research, innovation and investment — support for R&D, start-ups, scale-ups, and public-private partnerships to boost the national AI ecosystem; (3) Skills and education — investment in digital and AI competencies across education levels and workforce reskilling; (4) Data governance and access — enabling safe access to quality public data, anonymisation tools and data-sharing frameworks; (5) Secure public-sector deployment — pilot projects that deliver public-value services while ensuring cybersecurity and privacy safeguards; (6) Ethics, fundamental rights and trust — embedding human-centric and rights-respecting principles in AI development; and (7) International cooperation — positioning Croatia in EU and regional AI initiatives and funding instruments. Each focus area is designed to interlock with the Action Plan (2026–2028) to produce deliverables such as pilot deployments, funding calls, education programs and legal/regulatory drafting. ([vlada.gov.hr](https://vlada.gov.hr/vijesti/cilj-nacionalnog-plana-za-razvoj-umjetne-inteligencije-je-stvaranje-konkretnih-mjera-za-njezin-razvoj-u-hrvatskoj/44503?lang=sl&utm_source=openai))

Implementation Framework

The Action Plan 2026–2028 is conceived as a near-term, operational translation of strategic objectives into projects, pilots, funding allocations and institutional responsibilities. Implementation instruments envisaged include: dedicated budget lines and EU funding alignment; public procurement rules for ethical and secure AI procurement; regulatory gap analyses and draft implementing acts for transposition of the EU AI Act; establishment of interoperable data infrastructures and sandboxes for experimentation; and public communication, consultation and capacity-building programs. The MPUDT-led working group is tasked to prepare the Action Plan, assign lead implementers (ministries, agencies, research centres), and propose performance indicators and milestone reporting mechanisms. The draft clarifies that where binding enforcement is required, implementing legislation will be proposed subsequently rather than being established within the strategy itself. ([mpudt.gov.hr](https://mpudt.gov.hr/pristup-informacijama-6341/savjetovanja-s-javnoscu/radne-skupine-za-izradu-nacrta-prijedloga-zakona-drugih-propisa-i-akata/30151?utm_source=openai))

Monitoring and Evaluation

The draft anticipates a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) architecture including: (a) defined KPIs for each action (e.g., number of pilots, AI-ready companies, trained professionals, datasets provisioned); (b) regular progress reporting by lead ministries to the coordinating authority; (c) annual or biannual public status reports; and (d) an evaluation cycle aligned with the Action Plan horizon (mid-term checks during 2026–2028 and strategic review points toward 2032). The M&E design will also incorporate risk indicators to monitor safety, privacy incidents and fundamental-rights impacts, and will link to EU reporting obligations as the EU AI regulatory framework is implemented. ([mpudt.gov.hr](https://mpudt.gov.hr/pristup-informacijama-6341/savjetovanja-s-javnoscu/radne-skupine-za-izradu-nacrta-prijedloga-zakona-drugih-propisa-i-akata/30151?utm_source=openai))

Penalties, Liability, and Appeals

As a strategy document, the draft does not itself create new penalties or civil liability regimes; instead it commits to preparing implementing rules and regulatory instruments that will define enforcement, sanctions and redress in due course. The plan explicitly signals the need to align national enforcement and liability frameworks with EU-level rules (including the AI Act and data protection law), meaning that fines, administrative sanctions, conformity assessment and market surveillance mechanisms will be developed or adapted in subsequent legal acts. The draft also envisages procedural safeguards for affected individuals (appeals, oversight and complaint channels) within the implementing framework. ([mpudt.gov.hr](https://mpudt.gov.hr/pristup-informacijama-6341/savjetovanja-sa-zainteresiranom-javnoscu/radne-skupine-za-izradu-nacrta-prijedloga-zakona-drugih-propisa-i-akata/6230?lang=tr&utm_source=openai))

Relationship to Other Instruments

The national AI plan is positioned to complement and extend Croatia's broader digital policy architecture, notably the Digital Croatia 2032 strategy and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan investments in digital transformation. It is intended to coordinate with public-administration modernization projects (e.g., interoperable registers, anonymisation tools for judicial decisions), sectoral strategies (health, transport, agriculture) and EU-funded programs. The plan also explicitly references alignment with the EU AI Act and other EU data and digital regulatory initiatives to ensure legal and operational coherence. ([vlada.gov.hr](https://vlada.gov.hr/vijesti/na-sjednici-hrvatskoga-sabora-donesena-strategija-digitalne-hrvatske-2032/37529?utm_source=openai))

International Alignment

International alignment is a core design principle. The draft commits Croatia to synchronise national categorisations, conformity and risk-management approaches with EU Union-wide rules and standards and to seek EU and bilateral cooperation on research, talent mobility and cross-border experimentation (sandboxes). The document further indicates intent to leverage EU grants, Horizon programs, and Digital Europe funds, and to participate actively in EU peer coordination mechanisms. Close coordination with EU transposition of the AI Act (and other relevant legislation) is specifically signalled as a priority for the draft's follow-on implementing measures. ([mpudt.gov.hr](https://mpudt.gov.hr/pristup-informacijama-6341/savjetovanja-sa-zainteresiranom-javnoscu/radne-skupine-za-izradu-nacrta-prijedloga-zakona-drugih-propisa-i-akata/6230?lang=tr&utm_source=openai))

Implementation Timeline

Dates and milestones above are taken from MPUDT and Government public releases and the working-group notice; detailed project-level timetables are to be included in the Action Plan and subsequent implementing documents. ([mpudt.gov.hr](https://mpudt.gov.hr/vijesti-8/sjednica-vlade-pri-izradi-planova-kojima-ce-se-regulirati-umjetna-inteligencija-u-fokusu-sigurnost-gradjana-i-njihovih-podataka/30074?lang=hu&utm_source=openai))

Sources and References