Companies in Croatia independently and continuously engage in economic activities with the purpose of generating profit through production, trade, or the provision of services. According to the Companies Act, the main forms of commercial companies are:
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The business scope represents the set of activities a company performs — in other words, its business operations. Every company must define its business scope upon incorporation. This information is then entered into the Court Register and made publicly available.
Although the Court Register provides insight into a company’s listed activities, in practice, a company is not required to perform all of them. Therefore, it is crucial to properly define the business activities at the time of incorporation.
While the law guarantees freedom of enterprise, certain activities require special consent, authorization, or permits. Examples include:
A company may perform the activities that constitute its registered business scope. In addition to its main business activities, the company may also perform auxiliary activities that are related to and serve the execution of its primary activities, provided they are performed to a lesser extent or are customary for the type of business.
The business scope of a company may include any permitted activity, and a permitted activity is any that is not prohibited by law or contrary to public morals. The business scope is recorded as a registry entry in the Court Register.
In some cases, legislation may require that a company commence operations only after obtaining an official decision from a competent authority confirming that it meets all technical, health, environmental, and other legal requirements (operating permit). Certain activities may also be restricted to specific legal forms of companies, or may only be performed with the approval or license of a competent authority.
In a joint-stock company, the business scope is defined in the statute, while in other types of companies it is defined by a decision of the members, adopted in accordance with the company’s articles of association. Any changes must be approved by the majority required to amend the articles.
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