In-depth reviews have also been requested for Spain, Slovenia, France, Italy, Hungary, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Malta, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Great Britain, Germany and Luxembourg, based on indicators which the Commission uses to gauge the internal and external competitiveness of member countries.
The indicators include surpluses or deficits in current account balances, international investment positions, export market shares, and the private and public sector debts.
An in-depth review is "warranted for Croatia, a new member of the EU, given the need to understand the nature and potential risks related to the external position, trade performance and competitiveness, as well as internal developments," the Commission said in today's Alert Mechanism Report.
According to Eurostat figures published today, Croatia's possible competitiveness problems are signalled by a 24.7 per cent decline in its share in global exports from 2007 to 2012. The Commission set a six per cent share as the threshold decline.
Croatia's external imbalance and weaker competitiveness are also signalled by the net international investment position, as a percentage of GDP, of -89%. The Commission's threshold is -35%.
Another signal of possible internal imbalance is the 13.8% unemployment rate in the 2010-12 period. Brussels considers rates above 10% as worrisome.
Croatia's other indicators, including an average current account balance deficit in 2010-12 of 0.5% of GDP, do not suggest problems with competitiveness or internal and external imbalance.
Croatia's public sector debt, at 56% of GDP in 2012, is below the indicative threshold (60%), but the private sector debt, standing at 132% of GDP in 2012, is barely below the 133% EU threshold.
The Commission said that EU countries were managing to gradually reduce their current account deficits and improving competitiveness, but that high debt and the net international investment position in come countries remained a problem.
EU finance ministers will discuss the Alert Mechanism Report in December. The Commission will prepare the in-depth reviews for the 16 countries in the months ahead and publish them in the spring.