Zagreb, Croatia – Representatives of the Western Balkans’ (WB) Public Employment Services (PES) visited Croatian PES as well as Zagreb PES Branch within the topical Study Tour organized by the RCC ESAP 2 on 25-27 October 2022.

“Exchanging experiences, good practises and peer learning between PES peers in the Western Balkans has been a key element of the WB PES Bench-learning cycle supported by the RCC ESAP 2 project. Building on this model, we organised this Study Visit to Croatia to provide opportunities for peer-exchanges with an EU peer for our WB partners.    We are glad to have enabled this PES peer exchange, since our WB partners have shared with us how this topical exchange has been highly relevant for them in terms of learning about experiences and practises of the Croatian PES  in preparation for EU membership and use of EU funds.    In addition, topics such as the implementation of the Youth Guarantee,  ALMMs and digital channels, which were also the focus of this exchange, were considered highly relevant by our partners.   We are grateful to our Croatian PES partners for sharing their experiences and providing for this opportunity for WB peer to learn from their EU-accession journey and participations in the European PES Network and EURES”, said Amira Ramhorst, RCC ESAP 2 Team Leader.  

The 2-day Study Visit focused on: general objectives, structure and work of Croatian Employment Service and preparation for EU membership, new tasks and roles; Active Labour Market Measures (ALMMs) and preparation for establishing the Youth Guarantee in Croatia, peer exchanges of experiences and good practices.  Participants from the Western Balkan PES also visited the Zagreb branch office to learn first-hand about work with jobseekers and exchange experiences, practices and challenges with their Croatian peers.  

The Study Visit also included the final PES Bench-learning event wrapping up the 2022 WB PES Bench-learning cycle with a set of good practices presented by WB peers. More about this event available HERE