Minister Mrsic outlined the measures while opening the 3rd European Jobs Day conference in Opatija on Tuesday. He pledged closer cooperation between vocational schools and businesses so that young apprentices could be employed after earning a degree by businesses such as hotels where they had been trained during their secondary education.

Mrsic said that in the last eight months, unemployment among Croatians aged 15-25 had been reduced by eight percent, which he saw as proof that active employment measures yielded some fruits. He added that Croatia would use every euro from the European Social Fund for recruitment of young people in 2015 and that 60 million euros would be made available for that purpose.

Croatian Employment Service (HZZ) director Ankica Paun Jarallah said that EURES, the European network for jobseekers and employers, has 6,000 CVs of Croatians seeking employment abroad.

EURES, the Job Mobility Portal, is a co-operation network between the European Commission and the Public Employment Services of the EEA Member States. The purpose of EURES is to provide information, advice and recruitment/placement (job-matching) services for the benefit of workers and employers as well as any citizen wishing to benefit from the principle of the free movement of persons.

"European Job Day" in Opatija aims to put graduates and skilled professionals in the Northern Adriatic region of Croatia in touch with potential employers across Europe, the conference´s organisers said.