Coastal line maritime passenger transport in the Republic of Croatia, as well as in other EU member states, is regulated through various regulations and legislation, which in turn result in numerous national laws and regulations that affect its development, all of which is legally binding for shippers. Scheduled maritime passenger transport is an extremely important form of transport for the Republic of Croatia since it is the only form of connection with the mainland for many islands. This paper analyses economic policy measures that affect the organization and implementation of coastal line maritime passenger transport. The paper also investigates the demand fluctuation for maritime passenger transport services. The aid measures provided by the state to individual sectors is also analysed, as well as aid for the provision of services of general economic interest. The aim of this paper is to assess the amount of aid granted to maritime transport and its importance, especially in coastal line maritime passenger transport. The paper also explains the importance of establishing the Coastal Liner Services Agency as a regulatory body of the Republic of Croatia, and it further analyses the subsidy amounts granted to shippers in the period from 2014 to 2020.

COVID-19 pandemic has brought difficult situations for the global economy and their economic activities. However, passenger traffic is one of the activities that has felt the impact of the pandemic the most. The movement of passengers was reduced to a minimum, and some forms of traffic were completely suspended. One such example is railway transport in the Republic of Croatia, whose activity was completely stopped in April 2020, which also affected the business of the company Croatian Railway Passenger Transport Ltd. In this paper, the authors will analyse the impact of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the mobility of passengers in national and international railway passanger transport of the Republic of Croatia.

Seaports are important factors in global economies since most of the global trade is operated through maritime sector. Economic importance of seaports can be observed from various positive effects they produce for the area where they are located. At the same time, seaport activities create negative effects on the environment such as marine, air and soil pollution, waste production and noise generation that affect the health and quality of life of people. This paper analyses the possibility of achieving sustainable development of seaports through the development and implementation of innovations. The implementation of innovations in seaports affect the success of their operations, reduces business costs and creates conditions for maintaining a competitive position on the market; thereby affecting the economy as a whole. Moreover, innovations reduce negative effects on the environment thus affecting the ecological aspect and improve the quality of life of citizens, thus affecting the social aspect. The results of the research indicate that innovations in the maritime sector are mostly focused on the existing markets and include a discounted process of small improvements in the areas of vessel design and construction, fuel technology and port infrastructure. However, the development possibilities of seaports can also include innovations that are more focused on information and communication technologies (ICT). Innovations can address economic, social and environmental concerns and can give alternative guidelines for achieving sustainable development of seaports.

The outbreak of COVID-19 in Europe occurred in early 2020. During the year, several waves of infection developed with different timings across the European countries. The onset of the largest wave of infection occurred in August-September. Croatia is a hotspot of tourism in the Mediterranean region, and thus may have acted as an incubator of the pandemic during the summer of 2020. Given this, we designed a data-driven investigation to assess the possible role of mobility of passengers to and within Croatia through various modes of transportation. To this end, observational datasets were integrated with the modelling framework of the "epidemic Renormalisation Group". Comparing the models to the epidemiological data allowed to disfavour, in the case of Croatia in 2020, any prominent role in propagating the infection by either maritime or train transportation, while highlighting the leading role of both road and airborne mobility. The proposed framework aims to test hypotheses regarding the causation of infectious waves, with the capacity to rule out unrelated phenomena.

China is nowadays the most influential country in the world market, therefore the Chinese government introduced the One Belt and One Road project in 2013 in an attempt to reinforce its global power, including its major partner (Europe). In this paper the authors analyze the possible advantages and disadvantages that this Chinese initiative brings to the European market and the possible challenges that international policies may bring to the infrastructure created in recent years in the European Union. The authors concentrate on current examples based on China's COSCO Shipping and the influence that this initiative gives to the Chinese government in the world market. The aim of this paper is to present general overview on some of the consequences, positive or negative, of this important project.

The development of seaports is a complex process influenced by a number of external factors, from the economic ones to the social environment. Seaports differ from each other in their spatial and functional characteristics, the complexity and purpose of their operation, as well as the need for investment and additional construction of port infrastructure and superstructure, so their development must be approached analytically. In order for the proposed development guidelines to be applicable to ports with similar characteristics, it is necessary to define criteria for their classification. Relevant criteria for classifying and planning the development of seaports are derived from: laws and regulations established by legal regulations, goals and plans proposed by current strategic documents, and spatial plans that set the conditions for planning, forming and developing ports in a certain area. The purpose of this scientific work is to determine which national and regional regulations and documents affect the development of regional ports in the Republic of Croatia, and to define classification criteria that will serve as a basis for the formation of development directions for seaports.