The 76-million-euro agreement was signed by Croatia's European Integration Minister Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic and Jacques Wunenberger, head of the EC Delegation to Croatia.
The CARDS programme is an EU instrument of technical and financial assistance covering the countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
The agreement is the fourth of its kind that Croatia has signed since 2001 and the last one, since by being awarded EU candidate status Croatia has been granted access to PHARE, ISPA and SAPARD pre-accession funds, Grabar Kitarovic said at the signing ceremony.
The annual CARDS programme will release funds for the implementation of 29 projects which the Croatian authorities and NGOs proposed for EC financing in five priority areas of the CARDS programme.
Programmes of democratic stabilisation are to be financed with 17.5 million euros, economic and social development with 17.75 million, judiciary and internal affairs with 21.85 million, administrative capabilities with 15.1 million, and the protection of the environment and natural resources with 3.8 million euros.
Wunenburger said that the CARDS programme also reflected the country's development.
From the 60 million euros awarded to Croatia through the CARDS programme in 2001 to this year's 76 million, the assistance increased by 27 percent, and this is not only about quantitative but also qualitative growth which bears witness to the country's progress, Wunenburger said.