Future developments of Croatian society and its economy depend not just on the level of formal education and formal literacy, but also on the level of actual competences, skills and qualifications of. With the current level of actual competences of all educational levels of Croatian population living in new internal and external (international) circumstances, current educational structure can not be the basis for the development of life and economy; even less for integration into the european and global market economy. The role of adult education should be to foster and improve intellectual and moral development of adults, which is in the praxis not always the case since adult education is more directed towards development of cognitive skills and competences as preparation for the level of employability in the era of cognitive capitalism. International dimensions of political, social and economical issues can not be neglected for Croatia, but at the same time should not be a guiding principle for politicians and enterpreneurs for making decisions with material, social and even historical consequences for Croatia.