Nowadays, world has been taken over by globalization, and every country's desire to gain competitive advantagees and show what they are best at. However, this is not an easy task for some countries given the fact that they are, even today , opressed by world's biggest economies. Of course, it is not possible for all the countries of the world to be superpowers, but balance is always important. That is why it is important for small, dependent economies to find a way to break into the market and show their strengths there. The solution to such situations is regional integration within which small economies become part of the bigger picture. This paper deals with the impact of regional integration on the example of the Republic of Croatia, which,, after gaining independence in 1991, officially joined the European Union on 1 July 2013. The paper deals with macroeconomic indicators crucial for the development of a country and certain competitiveness indices regarding Croatia's trade with the rest of the world before and after joining the European Union. Given that regional integration brings with it much more than an impact on gross domestic product, data concerning the additional benefits of membership in the European Union have also been analyzed. In conclusion, this research gives a quick and brief overview of everything analyzed and confirms the basic hypothesis.