CROATIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Mirna Mišetić, Mišetić & Partners
1. Legislation and Enforcing Authorities 1.1 Merger Control Legislation Merger control in Croatia is regulated by the Competi - tion Act and two subordinate regulations: • the Regulation on the method and criteria for defin - ing the relevant market; and • the Regulation on the method of notification and the criteria for assessing mergers. The provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between undertak - ings (the “EC Merger Regulation”) also apply directly. The Croatian Competition Agency has adopted two guidelines: • the Guidelines on the procedure for assessing the permissibility of mergers (2004); and • the Guidelines on the procedure for assessing the permissibility of horizontal mergers (2005). In its practice, the Agency regularly relies on guide - lines issued by the European Commission – namely, the Guidelines on the assessment of horizontal merg - ers under the EC Merger Regulation and the Guide - lines on the assessment of non-horizontal mergers under the same Regulation. The Agency is required to apply the criteria derived from EU law, where appropriate, particularly in cases of legal gaps or uncertainties in the interpretation of the applicable rules. 1.2 Legislation Relating to Particular Sectors Foreign Transactions Foreign investments are unrestricted in principle, sub - ject to sector-specific regulation and a foreign direct investment screening mechanism implemented pur - suant to Regulation (EU) 2019/452.
merge, and of any intention to engage in any other form of joint or co-ordinated activity between opera - tors, unless the particular transaction is notifiable to the Competition Agency pursuant to general merger control thresholds (the Electronic Communications Act). If the transaction is notifiable to the Competition Agency, the Agency may in turn request an expert opinion from the Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries. Media Until the entry into force of the Act Implementing Reg - ulation (EU) 2024/1083 (Official Gazette No 27/2026, applicable from 26 March 2026), the regime applica - ble to media concentrations was fragmented: print media publishers had to notify the Croatian Competi - tion Agency of any intent to merge with another media publisher regardless of turnover, while electronic media operators were subject to the general merger control thresholds complemented by additional sec - tor-specific obligations. The new Act has streamlined this framework. Under the current regime, media concentrations fol - low the general merger control thresholds applicable under the Competition Act. Where a media transaction is notifiable, the Competition Agency must seek the opinion of the Agency for Media (the successor to the former Agency for Electronic Media) on the pluralism and editorial independence dimensions of the trans - action. The Agency for Media has 30 days to deliver its opinion; if it does not respond within that period, the absence of objections is presumed. Separately and irrespective of merger control thresh - olds, providers of media services, electronic publi - cations and video-sharing platforms must notify any change of ownership to the Agency for Media within five days. Where such a change is found to compro - mise media pluralism, the Agency for Media may order corrective measures and, in cases of persistent non- compliance, revoke concessions or permits. In addition to the merger control and pluralism noti - fication regimes, the Electronic Media Act preserves a set of sector-specific limits on cross-media owner -
Sector-Specific Regulations Electronic communications
Operators with significant market power and operators granted a licence to use radio-frequency spectrum at the national level must notify the Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries of any intention to
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