U radu se istražuju i analiziraju pokazatelji organizacije subnacionalne razine Hrvatske i Europske unije. Cilj rada je temeljem provedene komparativne analize utvrditi aktualne trendove EU-a u organizaciji subnacionalne razine te sukladno rezultatima dati preporuke kao smjernice za institucionalne reforme na nacionalnoj razini. Naglasak u istraživanju i analizi stavljen je na fragmentaciju regionalne razine država članica EU-a u usporedbi s Hrvatskom te trendove u optimizaciji i regionalnoj kompetitivnosti subnacionalne razine na području EU-a. U radu se naglašava i važnost institucija u provođenju aktivnosti na unaprjeđenju i razvoju regionalne i lokalne razine, kao važne osnovice za društveni i ekonomski razvoj svakog nacionalnog sustava. Istraživanje je smješteno unutar teorijskog okvira regionalne ekonomike. Metodološki, temeljem cilja istraživanja najprije su istraženi makro pokazatelji Hrvatske i EU-a u dijelu fragmentacije regionalne razine, nakon čega je izvedena usporedna analiza organizacije Hrvatske i sličnih država EU-a prema kriteriju broja stanovnika, a u zadnjem dijelu dan je naglasak na važnost institucija u upravljanju i ekonomskim politikama rasta i razvoja te kompetitivnosti regionalne i lokalne razine. Koriste se zadnji javno dostupni podaci vezani uz odabrane pokazatelje regionalne ekonomike Hrvatske i EU-a te odgovarajući podaci OECD-a. Usporedbom s državama članicama EU-27 te posebno s odabranim državama koje imaju sličnosti s Hrvatskom (po kriteriju broja stanovnika), rezultati istraživanja ukazuju da je fragmentacija organizacije u Hrvatskoj značajnija nego u usporednim državama. Isto tako, pokazuje se i da je kompetitivnost na razini NUTS 2 regija oko 20% niža od usporedivih regija EU-27, pri čemu je osobito izraženo da je institucionalni okvir jedan od temeljnih problema u izraženom zaostajanju u kompetitivnosti subnacionalne razine Hrvatske. Rezultati istraživanja i izvedene preporuke dovode do zaključnih razmatranja, koja utvrđuju moguće smjernice za institucionalne reforme i odgovarajuće politike regionalne ekonomike Republike Hrvatske, što je ujedno i glavni doprinos ovog rada. This paper explores and analyzes the indicators of subnational level organization of Croatia and the European Union. Based on the conducted comparative analysis, the aim of the paper is to identify current EU trends in subnational level organization and, in accordance with the results, to make recommendations, or in other words, guidelines for institutional reforms at the national level. The emphasis in both the research and analysis is placed on the fragmentation of the regional level of EU Member States compared to Croatia, but also on trends in the optimization and regional competitiveness of the subnational level in the EU. The paper also emphasizes the importance of institutions, since they are the ones carrying out the activities the aim of which is improvement and development of regional and local level, which is a basis for social and economic development of each national system. The research is based within the theoretical framework of regional economics. Methodologically, first were explored the macro indicators of Croatia and the EU in the regional level segmentation, on the grounds of research objective, after which a comparative analysis of the organization of Croatia and similar EU countries (according to the population criterion) was performed. In the last part of the paper, an emphasis was given on the importance of institutions in management and economic growth and development policies, and regional and local level competitiveness. We have used the latest publicly available data related to selected indicators of regional economics of Croatia and the EU and relevant OECD data. Compared to the EU-27 Member States and especially to selected countries that have similarities with Croatia (by population criterion), the research results indicate that the organization fragmentation in Croatia is more significant than in compared countries. It also shows that competitiveness of NUTS 2 regions is about 20% lower than comparable regions of the EU27, with particular emphasis on the fact that the institutional framework is one of the fundamental problems because subnational level competitiveness of Croatia is running behind. The research results and the recommendations made lead to concluding considerations, which determine potential guidelines for institutional reforms and appropriate policies of regional economics of the Republic of Croatia, which is also the main contribution of this paper.