On 26th March 2026, under the framework of the NAHV project, a stakeholder Roundtable was organised in Zagreb by the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Croatia (MINGO). The event was held in a hybrid format and brought together around 50 participants, including companies, universities and research centres, international and national institutions including regulators active in the Croatian hydrogen ecosystem.
The Roundtable pursued the same overall objective as the parallel national dialogue events held in Italy and in Slovenia: to provide a structured forum for dialogue and exchange on regulatory issues perceived as hindering the development of hydrogen projects, and to identify potential areas of interest for future regulatory sandbox initiatives.
The discussion highlighted several regulatory challenges, with a particular focus on permitting procedures. Participants stressed the lack of clear and proportionate authorisation pathways for modular hydrogen plants, as well as for installations located in port, coastal or maritime environments, where overlapping competences and fragmented rules often result in lengthy and uncertain approval processes. The absence of a transparent and harmonised permitting framework was identified as a key barrier to investment and project implementation.
At the same time, the dialogue emphasised the strategic opportunities offered by hydrogen for Croatia, notably in relation to the decarbonisation of maritime transport. Hydrogen was widely recognised as a promising solution to support cleaner mobility and energy supply for island connectivity, potentially enhancing energy security while reducing emissions in a sector of particular relevance for the Croatian context.
Overall, the Croatian Roundtable provided an important opportunity to bring together the national hydrogen community, fostering a shared understanding of regulatory needs and priorities. The insights gathered are considered essential to better understand stakeholders’ expectations and constraints, and to inform the development of regulatory sandbox proposals.
Together with the outcomes of the Italian and Slovenian dialogues, the Croatian stakeholder Roundtable represents a key building block in the NAHV process, contributing to the identification of common challenges and opportunities and supporting the establishment of a transnational hydrogen economy across Croatia, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Slovenia.