EFFICIENCY OF THE REGIONAL ORGANISATION OF ADVISORY CENTRES FOR CONSUMER PROTECTION IN THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

The paper analyses efficiency and sustainability of the recent regional organisation of the Advisory Centres for Consumer Protection in the Republic of Croatia in the context of justification of elimination thereof done by the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts. The paper includes a field research conducted among the active associations for consumer protection in the Republic of Croatia. The aim is to determine the capability of the past regional network of the consumer protection advisory centres to meet the needs of the most significant economic segment – the population of the Republic of Croatia, that is the consumers – natural persons, as the precondition for equal market competition with business entities. The paper offers an analysis of financial package of national, regional and local level of the system for consumer protection in the Republic of Croatia. The results show the inadequate efficiency and unsustainability of the recent system and offer alternative solutions in order to satisfy efficiently the needs of population of each Croatian region respectively and of the whole population of the Republic of Croatia.