At the European Summit in December, the European Union and Croatian leaders signed Croatia’s EU Accession Treaty. Following the recent Croatian referendum on EU membership, it seems the large majority of Croatian people want to join the European Union and accession is now foreseen for 1 July 2013.
The set of official EU languages is now bound to grow.
In order to reduce translation and interpreting costs, some European diplomats unofficially proposed that a single language, a hybrid of Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian and Montenegrin be admitted. Such a language would not be changed when other Western Balkan states eventually acceded to the EU. Such suggestions, however, have been deemed incompatible European Union legislation.
The EU’s acceptance of Croatian as an official language will result in a considerable increase in the demand for Croatian translations and for some industries, the result will be that all documentation accompanying products sold to Croatia will have to be translated into Croatian.
How will EU membership affect the Croatian automotive industry?
The automotive sector in Croatia can be attractive for foreign investors.
The main strengths of the Croatian market:
- Cost competitiveness
- Geographical proximity to markets
- Strong historical legacy
- Skilled workforce
Croatian Automotive Cluster
- Founded: December 2006
- 50 member companies
- Total employment: 6,000+ employees
- Total turnover 2010: EUR 420 million
- Exports – 90% to Western European countries/regions
- Cluster members: production companies, engineering companies, R&D institutions
- Export markets: Germany, Austria, Italy, France, etc.
- Major clients: BMW, Bentley, Ferrari, Ford, Mercedes, Opel, Renault, Peugeot, Scania and Volkswagen Group.
Some of the cluster’s clients are the most prominent companies in the global automotive market.
As of 1 July 2013, all companies from the automotive industry marketing their products in Croatia will be obliged to provide a Croatian translation of any product documentation.
This will impact the global content strategies of companies wishing to take advantage of Croatia’s EU membership status.
For further information on how EVS Translations could be your ideal Croatian language partner, please feel free to contact us.
E-mail – uktrans(at)evs-translations.com
Phone – +44 1159 644283
Website – evs-translations.com
