NEWS

ZAGREB, 5 July 2010

Kosor, Van Rompuy discuss Croatia's progress

Croatia's success on the road to the European Union will be a positive signal to the region that EU accession is possible, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said in Zagreb on Monday after meeting Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor. In downsizing the court system, Croatia has merged 40 per cent of courts and is willing to fully meet all the benchmarks set for the negotiation chapter "Judiciary and Fundamental Rights," said Kosor.She said she and Van Rompuy also talked about the Competition Policy chapter, which regards shipbuilding, and voiced confidence that negotiations on this chapter would be closed soon. She added that the government was cooperating "with the unions, managing boards and workers" in the shipyards.

NEWS

BRUSSELS, 30 June 2010

Accession conference starts in Brussels, Croatia set to open 3, close 2 chapters

The intergovernmental conference at which Croatia is expected to open the remaining three chapters in its EU entry talks, started in Brussels on Wednesday. Croatia started the talks in late 2005 and is aiming to conclude them before the end of the year. That could pave the way for EU membership around 2012 or 2013, considering the time necessary for ratification of its Treaty of Accession by the bloc's existing states.

NEWS

ZAGREB, 30 June 2010

Kosor: Croatia has started running last 500 m of its marathon for EU membership

Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor said in Zagreb on Wednesday that at today's pre-accession conference Croatia had started running the last 500 metres of its marathon race for membership of the European Union, underlining nevertheless that the last leg was a very difficult one. At a pre-accession conference held in Brussels on Wednesday, Croatia opened the last three unopened policy areas in its EU membership talks - Judiciary and Fundamental Rights; Competition Policy; and Foreign, Security and Defence Policy, and closed two policy areas - Public Procurement and Taxation. Croatia now has opened all policy areas and it has closed 20 of the 33 areas that are negotiated.

NEWS

BRUSSELS, 25 June 2010

COREPER okays opening of 3 remaining chapters in Croatia's EU entry talks

The Committee of Permanent Representatives in the European Union (COREPER), which consists of heads or deputy heads of missions from the EU member states in Brussels, on Friday give the green light to the opening of the remaining three unopened negotiating areas within Croatia's EU membership talks, which means that the policy chapters -- "Judiciary and Fundamental Rights", "Competition Policy" and "Foreign, Security and Defence Policy" will be opened at an intergovernmental accession conference next week. According to sources from the EU Council, COREPER adopted with no discussion the joint negotiating positions on the above-mention policy chapters. The committee also greenlighted the provisional closing of "Public Procurement" policy chapter at the conference set for 30 June.

NEWS

BRUSSELS, 25 June 2010

Belgium to ensure smooth continuation of Croatia's EU entry talks

The European Union's Belgian presidency will attempt to ensure a smooth continuation of accession negotiations with Croatia, which are nearing completion, but cannot make a commitment that they will be wrapped up by the end of the year, the most senior Belgian officials said on Friday. Belgium is taking over the EU's rotating presidency on July 1.Belgium will promote good progress in negotiations with Croatia, but is not committing to a time frame, Prime Minister Yves Leterme told a news conference in response to the question if Croatia could wrap up its entry talks by December 31, the end of Belgium's presidency.

NEWS

ISTANBUL, 22 June 2010

Jandrokovic for separating EU entry talks from outstanding bilateral issues

During their European Union accession process, all countries should separate negotiation issues from possible outstanding bilateral issues with neighbours, Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Jandrokovic said in Istanbul on Tuesday. Building good neighbourly relations on confidence, understanding and cooperation is very important for resolving outstanding issues, he said at a meeting of the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP), citing the settlement of the Croatian-Slovenian border issue as a positive example.Jandrokovic thanked Turkey for successfully chairing the SEECP in the past period, saying a recent Sarajevo conference on Southeast Europe had given impetus and a message to all countries in the region to continue implementing reform requirements.

NEWS

MOSCOW, 18 June 2010

Kosor says Brammertz has acknowledged Croatia's efforts

In his latest report to the UN Security Council, the chief prosecutor of the Hague war crimes tribunal, Serge Brammertz, has acknowledged the efforts Croatia is making, Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor said on Friday, adding the government's Task Force would continue searching for the wartime artillery logbooks sought by the tribunal. "I had been saying for some time that Brammertz would acknowledge Croatia's efforts to overcome the difficulties and this report shows that Brammertz has acknowledged what we have been doing," Kosor told Croatian press covering her visit to Moscow.

NEWS

ZAGREB, 17 June 2010

Justice minister says Croatia must open policy chapter on judiciary on June 30

Croatia must open the negotiation chapter on the judiciary in its EU accession talks on June 30, so that it could wrap its membership talks by February 2011 at the latest and sign an accession treaty with the EU by the summer of next year, as that is the only way it can take part in talks on the next EU budget to be held during Poland's EU presidency in the second half of 2011, Croatian Justice Minister Ivan Simonovic said in Zagreb on Thursday. Simonovic made the statement in an address to reporters after talks with Polish Justice Minister Krzysztof Kwiatkowski.

NEWS

ZAGREB, 16 June 2010

Round table debate on EU funds held in Croatian parliament

Croatia aims to use more than 90 percent of funds which the European Union will make available to it, the head of the national committee for overseeing Croatia's European Union accession negotiations, Vesna Pusic, said in Zagreb on Wednesday. Addressing a round table discussion on EU funds, which was held in the Croatian parliament, Pusic said that everything which Croatia missed to use from those funds could be viewed as "direct loss".The effects of the use of EU funds can be seen the best at a local level where they can facilitate better living conditions, Pusic said speaking of financial assistance in building culture centres, pre-school facilities, railways, public utilities etc.

NEWS

LUXEMBOURG, 14 June 2010

Zbogar says Slovenia has no reservations about Croatia opening Competition Policy chapter

Arriving in Luxembourg on Monday for an European Union ministerial meeting, Slovenian Foreign Minister Samuel Zbogar said his country had no reservations about the opening of the Competition Policy chapter within Croatia's EU accession negotiations and that it would set no conditions for the opening of negotiations in the three remaining policy areas."Concerning the Competition Policy chapter, there are no outstanding issues. The issue of the Ljubljanska Banka is not linked with the Competition Policy," the Slovenian official said.

NEWS

LUXEMBOURG, 14 June 2010

Brammertz says has no reason to doubt Croatia will expand artillery logs probe

The Hague war crimes tribunal's chief prosecutor, Serge Brammertz, said in Luxembourg on Monday he had no reason to doubt that Croatia would continue and expand the investigation into wartime artillery logbooks whose results to date had been only limited. I said that we received a number of reports from the (Croatian) task force set up last year and whose results so far, unfortunately, have been very limited, Brammertz told reporters after briefing European Union foreign ministers about his assessment of Croatia's and Serbia's cooperation with the Hague tribunal.I visited Croatia several days ago, talked with government representatives and was assured that investigations would continue and be expanded, that now many avenues which my office identified several months ago would be more aggressively investigated. I have no reason to doubt that, but I very much hope that there will be additional results in the near future, said Brammertz.

NEWS

LUXEMBOURG, 14 June 2010

Netherlands no longer setting conditions for opening but closing of judiciary chapter

Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said in Luxembourg on Monday the EU had decided that full cooperation with the Hague war crimes tribunal must be one of the benchmarks for closing the Judiciary and Fundamental Rights negotiation chapter in EU entry talks, which should mean that Croatia will open the chapter at an accession conference scheduled for June 30.

NEWS

ZAGREB, 13 June 2010

Perception of corruption in government in Croatia drops 10% from 2006 - survey

Last year the perception of corruption in government in Croatia dropped 10 per cent compared to 2006, but nine percent more people considered corruption to be widespread in business, a survey shows.The survey on corruption in the Balkans was carried out by the public opinion research institute Gallup Europe in 2009 and its results were presented in Brussels this past week.

NEWS

ZAGREB, 11 June 2010

Kosor expects Brussels to acknowledge Croatia's efforts in cooperation with ICTY

Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor has said that during her meeting with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy in Brussels on Friday she will discuss Croatia's cooperation with the Hague war crimes tribunal and that she expects Croatia's efforts to be acknowledged."We will address cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal (for the former Yugoslavia) and the assessment of the chief prosecutor that we are awaiting," Kosor said on Croatian Television on Thursday night.

NEWS

BRUSSELS, 11 June 2010

Belgium expects date for EU accession treaty with Croatia to be set by year's end

Belgium does not expect that Croatia will manage to close all negotiation chapters in its EU entry talks by the end of Belgium's EU presidency, but feels that the date for the signing of the accession treaty with Croatia will be known towards the end of the year, a Belgian official said on Friday.The Belgian Ambassador to the European Union, Jean De Ruyt, was presenting in Brussels the programme of Belgium's EU presidency from July 1 to December 31, 2010.

NEWS

BRUSSELS, 11 June 2010

PM Kosor and Enlargement Commissioner Fuele meet in Brussels

After meeting European Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele in Brussels on Friday, Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor expressed optimism about Croatia achieving its objectives regarding its European Union membership talks.Kosor described her talks with Fuele as very good and exhaustive, reiterating that Croatia wanted to have the remaining three policy chapters opened by the end of the Spanish EU presidency and to have as many chapters as possible closed by that time, namely, by the end of this month.

NEWS

BRUSSELS, 11 June 2010

PM Kosor expects opening of remaining three negotiating areas by June's end

Croatia expects the opening of the remaining three unopened policy chapters (negotiating areas) within its accession negotiations with the European Union by the end of this month and the completion of the technical negotiations by the end of this year, Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor said in Brussels on Friday after meeting European Council President Herman van Rompuy."We expect the opening of all three chapters by the end of the Spanish (EU) presidency, as in our opinion all requirements to this effect have been met," the Croatian premier said.

NEWS

ZAGREB, 10 June 2010

Jandrokovic: Pahor said Slovenia would not set new obstacles

Croatian Foreign Affairs and European Integration Minister Gordan Jandrokovic said on Thursday he did not expect new Slovenian blockades of Croatia's European Union accession negotiations, in accordance with announcements from Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor.He was asked by the press to comment on announcements from the Slovenian Foreign Ministry that Slovenia will make the opening of the negotiation chapter "Competition Policy" and the closing of chapters on the free movement of goods and capital conditional on allowing Nova Ljubljanska Banka to operate in Croatia.

NEWS

BRUSSELS, 10 June 2010

Drobnjak optimistic about opening of remaining negotiation chapters

Croatia's chief negotiator in European Union entry talks, Vladimir Drobnjak, said in Brussels on Thursday he was optimistic that Croatia could open the remaining policy chapters at an accession conference later this month, including the most demanding one which concerns the judiciary and fundamental rights.He was speaking to the press after meeting Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele.

NEWS

ZAGREB, 10 June 2010

Asselborn: Opening of Chapter 23 is a political decision that needs to be taken

European Union member states are aware of the fact that the opening of Chapter 23 - Judiciary and Fundamental Rights - is a political decision that needs to be taken, and Luxembourg will fully support it, Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said in Zagreb on Thursday after meeting his Croatian counterpart Gordan Jandrokovic.I believe the opening of that chapter will open the door to fixing a date for the accession of Croatia to the European Union, Asselborn said at a joint press conference.

NEWS

BRUSSELS, 9 June 2010

Swoboda urges opening Chapter 23 regardless of possible tiny shortcomings

EU countries should adopt a political decision on opening the Judiciary and Fundamental Rights chapter in Croatia's EU entry talks, disregarding possible tiny shortcomings which Croatia must remove to achieve full cooperation with the Hague war crimes tribunal, in order to give Croatia a chance to show its full judicial reform capacity, the European Parliament rapporteur on Croatia, Hannes Swoboda, said on Wednesday.He was speaking to press in Brussels after meeting the Croatian state secretary for European integration, Andrej Plenkovic.

NEWS

BRUSSELS, 7 June 2010

Plenkovic: Croatia doesn't expect any EU member to put its accession treaty to referendum

Croatia does not expect any EU country to put its accession treaty to a referendum, Croatian State Secretary for European Integration Andrej Plenkovic said on Monday. "I don't believe any of the EU member states will put the accession treaty with Croatia to a referendum," Plenkovic said in a talk to diplomats, journalists and representatives of interest groups at the Centre for European Political Studies in Brussels.Plenkovic said that lessons should be learned from several unsuccessful referendums in Europe, when their outcomes had consequences outside the countries where they were held, and that therefore governments should take responsibility and ratify Croatia's accession treaty in their parliaments.

NEWS

BRUSSELS, 7 June 2010

Barroso welcomes outcome of Slovenia's referendum

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso welcomed the outcome of Slovenia's referendum on its border arbitration agreement with Croatia as an important signal for the region as well as for the relations between Croatia and Slovenia."This is an important step forward," Barroso said in a statement, welcoming the support which the Slovenian people gave to the agreement at the referendum."We now look forward to a final settlement of the dispute. Resolving this bilateral issue is an important signal for the region and the relations between Slovenia and Croatia," he said in the statement.

NEWS

BRUSSELS, 7 June 2010

EC sees referendum result as step forward

The European Commission welcomes the outcome of Slovenia's referendum on its border arbitration agreement with Croatia as a step forward, but it is still to early to say when Croatia will exactly wind up the membership talks, the spokeswoman for European Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele told Hina.It is clear that the decision of the Slovenian people is a step forward and we welcome it, said the spokeswoman Angela Filote on Monday.

NEWS

BRUSSELS, 3 June 2010

Diplomat says there is realistic chance of chapter No. 23 being opened after Brammertz's report

The assessment of Croatia's cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), presented in a report submitted to the UN Security Council by ICTY chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz, is as expected, Croatia's progress in an investigation into missing military documents sought by the tribunal has been commended, but the report also notes that not all investigation avenues have been examined, Hina learned from diplomatic sources on Thursday.Such an evaluation leaves enough room for the European Union to decide to open talks with Croatia on policy chapter No. 23, Judiciary and Fundamental Rights, by the end of the month.A European diplomat told Hina he believed that there were realistic chances of the chapter being opened by the end of the month and that Brammertz's report left enough room for a positive outcome.

NEWS

ZAGREB, 1 June 2010

Croatian and Belgian PMs discuss Croatia's EU membership bid

Croatia will have no obstacles to the speedy completion of its accession negotiations with the European Union as soon as its solves problems regarding shipyards, border disputes with its neighbours and issues related to the Policy Chapter No. 23, particularly those ones concerning the full cooperation with the Hague tribunal, Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme said in Zagreb on Tuesday after talks with his Croatian counterpart Jadranka Kosor. Belgium takes over the rotating six-month presidency over the European Union on 1 July.

NEWS

ZAGREB, 1 June 2010

Belgian Embassy clarifies PM Leterme's statements

Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme said after talks with Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor in Zagreb on Tuesday that the Belgian government expected the Croatian government to do its best to solve outstanding bilateral issues with neighbouring countries and that this could in no way be interpreted as a new condition for Croatia's accession to the European Union, the Belgian Embassy in Zagreb said in a statement clarifying Leterme's statements. "On the occasion of his meeting today in Zagreb with H.E. Mrs. Jadranka Kosor, Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, Mr. Yves Leterme, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Belgium, stated that the Belgian Government expects the Croatian Government to invest its best efforts in solving the open bilateral issues with the neighbouring countries. This should in no way be interpreted as a new conditionality to the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union," the Embassy said in the statement.(H)

NEWS

ZAGREB, 28 May 2010

Commissioner expects closing of Environment chapter this year

The visiting European Union Commissioner for Environment, Janez Potocnik, has said in Zagreb that the closing of the Environment policy chapter within Croatia's EU membership talks is expected in the first half of Belgium's EU presidency in the second half of 2010. Potocnik, who was on a two-day visit to Croatia, told a news conference on Friday that the Environment negotiating area would be provisionally closed after Croatia met benchmarks and that currently negotiations were being held on transitional periods requested by Croatia.Croatia should meet benchmarks in the Environment policy chapter No. 27. The talks are being finalised for transitional periods, particularly relating to waste water, air quality and industrial pollution, Potocnik said after he visited the EU Delegation in Zagreb.

NEWS

ZAGREB, 27 May 2010

Croatian foreign minister receives EU environment commissioner

The Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Gordan Jandrokovic, on Thursday received the European Commissioner for the Environment, Janez Potocnik, who had arrived for a two-day visit to Croatia. According to a statement from the Foreign Affairs and European Integration Ministry, Jandrokovic updated his guest on the process of Croatia's accession to the European Union. Stressing that the accession negotiations were in their final stage, he said that Croatia remained committed to accomplishing its goal of technically completing the accession process by the end of the year.

NEWS

BRUSSELS, 25 May 2010

EC submits to EU Council draft negotiating position on Chapter 23

The European Commission confirmed on Tuesday it had submitted a draft negotiating position on Chapter 23, which deals with the judiciary and fundamental rights, in accession negotiations with Croatia. The EU member states now have to endorse the position, and an assessment of Croatia's cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) by the tribunal's chief prosecutor will play an important role in that.An EU draft negotiating position has been forwarded to the Council of the European Union, the Office of Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele told reporters.

NEWS

BRUSSELS, 19 May 2010

Fuele says cooperation with Hague tribunal key for opening Chapter 23

Croatia's progress in cooperation with the Hague war crimes will be key in convincing European Union countries to allow the opening of negotiations on the chapter Judiciary and Fundamental Rights as part of Croatia's EU entry talks, Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele has said. Addressing the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee in Strasbourg on Monday, Fuele said he expected he would submit soon to the Council of the EU a draft joint negotiating position for opening Chapter 23, but added that cooperation with the Hague tribunal would be key in assuring EU countries to open the chapter.

NEWS

BRUSSELS, 18 May 2010

Suker says government economic recovery programme assessed positively by EU

The European Union has positively assessed Croatia's Pre-accession Economic Programme (PEP) and the government's economic recovery programme, and the current situation in Croatia is much better than in many EU member countries, Finance Minister Ivan Suker said in Brussels on Tuesday. "Today we discussed the pre-accession programmes of the candidate countries Croatia, Macedonia and Turkey. Croatia's PEP received a good assessment as did its economic recovery programme," said Suker, who attended in Brussels a regular annual meeting of economy and finance ministers from EU countries and candidate countries, focusing on fiscal and economic policies.

NEWS

ZAGREB, 8 May 2010

Kosor says Croatia deserves to wrap up EU entry talks this year

Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor said on Saturday Croatia had deserved to wrap up European Union accession negotiations this year and sign an accession treaty "so that we can finish the job by 2011". Speaking at a celebration for the European Union's day, Kosor said this was the last year that Croatia was marking this occasion as a EU accession candidate.She said she expected many negotiation chapters to be closed by the summer, adding she was optimistic about the opening of talks on the Judiciary and Fundamental Rights chapter.

NEWS

ZAGREB, 8 May 2010

Lange announces closing of many chapters, says Brammertz's report very important

Dirk Lange, the European Commission's chief negotiator in Croatia's European Union entry talks, has said that June will be a month of a massive closing of policy chapters and opening of the remaining ones. Lange, who is also the chief of the department for Croatia at the European Commission Enlargement Directorate-General, has also said negotiations on the Judiciary and Fundamental Rights chapter could have been opened sooner had there been full cooperation with the Hague war crimes tribunal.Speaking to Privredni Vjesnik magazine, Lange said the chapters which could be closed next month were Transport Policy, Taxation, Financial Control, and Public Procurement, adding the Agriculture and Rural Development chapter could be closed by the end of the year.

NEWS

ZAGREB, 6 May 2010

Pusic: Croatia has a chance of completing EU entry talks as planned

Croatia still has a chance of completing its EU entry talks by the end of the year as planned, and of opening the policy chapter Judiciary and Fundamental Rights before the summer, the head of the national committee monitoring Croatia's accession talks, Vesna Pusic, said on Thursday. "I think we have a chance," Pusic told reporters after a three-hour session of the committee, adding that various tasks had to be carried out, including political ones.Pusic said the committee today discussed two policy chapters in Croatia's EU entry talks - Food Safety, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Policy (policy chapter No. 12) and Transport Policy (policy chapter No. 14). The two chapters are among the 15 chapters that have not been provisionally closed yet.Pusic said the committee expected the policy chapter Judiciary and Fundamental Rights (No. 23) to be opened by the summer. This chapter is one of the three chapters that have not been opened yet, the other two being Competition Policy and Foreign, Security and Defence Policy.

NEWS

BRUSSELS, 5 May 2010

Minister Šimonović confident that judiciary chapter will be opened in June

After talking with EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding in Brussels on Wednesday, Croatian Justice Minister Ivan Simonovic said he was confident that Chapter 23 Judiciary and Fundamental Rights in Croatia's European Union entry talks would be opened in June. Simonovic, who has recently been appointed UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, is convinced he will have finished the work concerning the opening of negotiations on (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights Chapter) before taking up the position of UN Assistant Secretary-General."I sincerely hope and firmly believe that Chapter 23 Judiciary and Fundamental Rights will not only be opened, but that I will be able to negotiate with my colleagues the guidelines for the closing of the said chapter," Simonovic told reporters after the talks with Reding, who was not available for comment.

NEWS

ZAGREB, 3 May 2010

Josipovic: Fighting corruption is a fight for European Croatia

President Ivo Josipovic attended an event called EU Days at Zagreb's Faculty of Economics on Monday, saying that Croatia was fully committed to combating corruption and organised crime. "Fighting corruption is a fight for European Croatia. All state institutions are committed to the fight against corruption and crime, and their cooperation with the government is excellent," Josipovic said in his address to students, faculty and foreign diplomats.Noting that there was a full consensus at all levels of government on combating corruption, Josipovic said that the biggest corruption lay in public resources management.

NEWS

ZAGREB, 2 May 2010

Croatians would vote for EU accession if referendum were held today

If a referendum on Croatia's European Union membership were organised now, the majority of Croatians who would vote would opt for accession, according to a public opinion survey whose results were released on Wednesday. The April survey by the Ipsos Puls-Public Affairs agency shows that 76 per cent of Croatians would vote in a referendum on the country's accession to the EU, of whom 53 per cent would vote for accession.The survey covered 1,000 citizens and was commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration.

NEWS

ZAGREB, 29 April 2010

Europe Week to be held in Croatia in May for 10th consecutive year

Croatia's Foreign Affairs and European Integration Ministry will organise Europe Week from 3 to 10 May, with many events to be held throughout the country. Announcing the programme for the tenth Europe Week in Croatia, Ministry State Secretary Andrej Plenkovic said that this year marking Europe Week was especially important as Croatia was at the final stage of its accession negotiations with the European Union.He said that the public therefore had the right to be fully informed of all aspects of the negotiating process.Plenkovic cited results of the latest opinion polls showing that if a referendum on Croatia's EU entry were to be held now, 76 percent of eligible voters would turn out and of them, 56 percent would vote for EU membership. Currently 40 percent of Croatians are against accession, with seven percent of voters being indecisive.

NEWS

ZAGREB, 15 April 2010

PM Kosor opens event on EU funding opportunities

Admission to the European Union is the goal of all goals for Croatia, its most important goal both on the foreign and on the home front, Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor said opening an event on EU funding opportunities, called "Croatia in Europe, Europe for Croatia", in Zagreb on Thursday. Kosor said that the EU would set aside EUR 2.2 billion for the first two years of Croatia's membership, plus special funds for agriculture amounting to EUR 670 million, and that as of 2014 Croatia would be entitled to receive annual funding worth EUR 1.6 billion.

NEWS

BRUSSELS, 14 April 2010

Fuele says EC doing everything for Croatia to wrap up entry talks as soon as possible

The completion of the accession talks in 2010 is a challenge for the Croatian government and the European Commission advocates that this be done as soon as possible, Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said in Brussels on Wednesday, underlining that full cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal is very important for progress in the EU entry negotiations. Croatia is making progress in meeting membership criteria, Fuelle said at a plenary session of the Committee of the Regions, praising a constructive approach in the border dispute with Slovenia.

NEWS

BRUSSELS, 13 April 2010

Croatia to close negotiations on free movement of goods on Monday

At the next intergovernmental accession conference, scheduled for April 19, Croatia will close negotiations on Chapter 1 - Free Movement of Goods, but none of the three as yet unopened chapters will be opened, Spanish EU Presidency spokeswoman Cristina Gallach confirmed to Hina on Tuesday. Gallach said that the Spanish EU Presidency was planning another conference at the ministerial level in June, at which several policy chapters were expected to be opened and closed.

NEWS

ZAGREB, 6 April 2010

Croatian foreign ministry official meets EU delegation chief

The State Secretary for European Integration at the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Andrej Plenkovic, met with the head of the European Union Delegation to Croatia, Paul Vandoren, in Zagreb on Tuesday to discuss Croatia's progress towards EU membership and an intergovernmental conference scheduled for April 19, the Croatian ministry said in a statement. The two officials highlighted the progress Croatia had made in the opening of Chapter 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights) and Chapter 8 (Competition).

NEWS

ZAGREB, 30 March 2010

Croatia-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee ends two-day meeting

The Croatian co-chair of the Croatia-European Union Joint Parliamentary Committee, Marija Pejcinovic-Buric, said on Tuesday she hoped that Croatia's EU accession negotiations would be the topic of only one more committee meeting, the next one in November, and that future meetings would address topics current at the time of accession, such as ratification of the accession treaty. Pejcinovic-Buric was speaking at a joint news conference with the committee's other chair, Swedish member of the European Parliament Gunnar Hoekmark, at the end of a two-day committee meeting in Zagreb.Pejcinovic-Buric said the committee's goal was to facilitate and expedite the negotiations of EU accession candidates, adding that the Zagreb meeting paid special attention to the Judiciary and Fundamental Rights negotiation chapter.

NEWS

BRUXELLES, 30 March 2010

Fuele: Croatia will join EU without monitoring mechanism

Croatia has made good progress in recent months, there are no problems that could not be overcome and the country should be able to join the European Union without such monitoring mechanisms as were introduced in the case of Bulgaria and Romania, EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said in an interview with the Internet portal Euractiv on Tuesday. "We are so focused on the quality of accession negotiations that speculation about an eventual monitoring mechanism does not have any place and I take my responsibilities very seriously in this regard. I am not in the business of running an accession process that requires such a mechanism," Fuele said when asked if monitoring mechanisms like those put in place for Bulgaria and Romania were envisaged for Croatia.

NEWS

ZAGREB, 29 March 2010

Croatia-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee meeting begins

The Croatia-European Union Joint Parliamentary Committee began its 11th meeting in Zagreb on Monday and the two-day event is addressing the state of Croatia's EU accession negotiations, judicial reform, the fight against corruption and organised crime, Croatia's relations with neighbouring countries, the economic policy, energy sector reform, and the EU's common foreign and defence policy. The meeting was opened by the Croatian co-chair of the committee, Marija Pejcinovic-Buric.The other committee chair, Swedish member of the European Parliament Gunnar Hoekmark, voiced hope that Zagreb, which he described as a very European city, would soon become the capital of the EU's 28th member.

NEWS

ZAGREB, 29 March 2010

Kosor receives European Parliament delegation

Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor on Monday received a European Parliament delegation led by Gunnar Hoekmark, who commended Croatia's progress in the European Union accession process and voiced confidence that Zagreb would be the 28th capital in the EU, the government said in a press release. Hoekmark said the Croatian-Slovenian model of resolving problems could have a positive effect on the development of relations in the entire region. He praised the fact that Croatia gave its translation of the EU acquis communautaire to other countries in Southeast Europe.

NEWS

BRUSSELS, 25 March 2010

PM says Croatia doing its utmost to wrap up EU entry talks this year

The Croatian government is doing its best in order to ensure the completion of the accession negotiations with the European Union by the end of this year, Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor said on Thursday after her meeting with European Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele in Brussels. "I have told the ministers to personally oversee the processes. I can say that we talk around the clock about those processes, achievements and what should be done. This was also the topic of my talks with Fuele," Kosor said.Fuele expressed hope that by the end of the Spanish EU presidency (30 June this year) Croatia would open the three remaining unopened policy chapters and close a majority of them.

NEWS

BRUSSELS, 23 March 2010

FM says Croatia has arguments in favour of opening all remaining policy areas in April

Croatia is doing all it can to open the remaining unopened policy chapters in its EU accession talks at the next intergovernmental accession conference, to be held in the second half of April, and it believes that it has arguments in favour of that, Croatian Foreign Affairs and European Integration Minister Gordan Jandrokovic said in Brussels on Tuesday. "I would like all chapters to be opened. Croatia is doing its best for that to happen, but it is up to member-states to verify our achievements, and I believe they have enough good arguments to open all policy chapters in April," Jandrokovic said after a meeting of the Croatia-EU Stabilisation and Association Council, the highest joint body supervising the implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement.Croatia has so far opened 30 of 33 policy areas of the EU acquis communautaire that are negotiated. The chapters that remain to be opened are Judiciary and Fundamental Rights; Competition Policy; and Foreign, Security and Defence Policy.

NEWS

ZAGREB, 22 March 2010

EU-Croatia Stabilisation and Association Council to convene in Brussels on Tuesday

The Stabilisation and Association Council between Croatian and the European Union will hold its six meeting in Brussels on Tuesday. Croatia's delegation will be headed by Foreign Affairs and European Integration Minister Gordan Jandrokovic and the EU delegation will be led by Spanish Foreign Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, the Croatian foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday.

NEWS

BRUSSELS, 16 March 2010

EC forwards to EU Council Croatian gov't letter on shipyards

The European Commission on Tuesday forwarded to EU member-countries a letter from the Croatian government citing several measures it could take in case the second round of privatisation of the state-owned shipyards failed, an EC official in charge of Croatia said. Acting in agreement with the Croatian government, we forwarded the letter, which cites some options, to EU member-countries for consideration, said Dirk Lange, head of the department for Croatia at the Directorate General Enlargement.Lange on Tuesday participated in a preparatory meeting of the Joint EU-Croatia Parliamentary Committee, which it to convene in Zagreb on March 29-30.

NEWS

VIENNA, 15 March 2010

Austrian president backs plans for completion of Croatia's EU entry talks this year

Austria believes that Croatia can wrap up accession negotiations with the European Union this year and join the Union in 2012, Austrian President Heinz Fischer said after talks with his Croatian counterpart Ivo Josipovic in Vienna on Monday. "There are good chances for negotiations to be completed this year," Fischer said, adding that this would pave the way for Croatia's admission to the EU in 2012."Austria's position is clear, we support that approach. It is good for both Croatia and the region, and for the EU," the Austrian head of state said.Croatian President Josipovic said his country was grateful to Austria for the assistance it had been offering since Croatia gained independence and for its current support to Croatia's EU membership bid.

NEWS

BRUSSELS, 11 March 2010

Leterme says Belgium will encourage Croatia's EU entry talks

Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme has announced that in the second half of the year, when Belgium will chair the European Union, his cabinet will encourage Croatia's EU accession negotiations, voicing hope that they can be wrapped up by the end of the year. "In principle, Croatia should wrap up the negotiations... What is certain is that we will encourage this issue. That is very important. One has to make the people realise that their accession is not an illusion," Leterme said in Thursday's interview with the Belgian newspaper L'Echo.Since EU enlargement will be one of the priorities in the second half of the year as well, Leterme visited Macedonia and Kosovo earlier this week.

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ZAGREB, 6 March 2010

Jandrokovic attends informal meeting of EU foreign ministers

The Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Gordan Jandrokovic, on Saturday attended an informal meeting of foreign affairs ministers from EU member states and membership candidates in Cordoba, Spain, where he spoke of Croatia's EU accession process. According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Jandrokovic said that Croatia fully supported all Southeast European countries in their efforts to join the European Union by offering them its own experience. In this context he cited the decision by the Croatian government to offer its translation of EU legislation to its neighbours.Jandrokovic stressed the importance of the clear prospect of EU membership as the best catalyst for the implementation of demanding reforms.

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BRUSSELS, 5 March 2010

Van Rompuy: Croatia can finish its EU entry talks this year

Croatia can complete its EU accession talks this year on condition it meets the necessary membership criteria, and it has the EU's full support in doing so, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said after talks with Croatian President Ivo Josipovic in Brussels on Friday. The European Union supports Croatia's admission. It will give a positive signal to the region. Croatia has made great progress in its accession talks in recent years, and they are now entering their final stage and can be finished this year on condition the required membership criteria are met, Van Rompuy said after the meeting.The EU official underlined the importance of regional cooperation and improvement of relations with neighbouring countries, notably Bosnia-Herzegovina, which he said should not be allowed to lag behind the rest of the region.

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BRUXELLES, 5 March 2010

President Josipovic meets European Commission president

Croatia must implement the necessary reforms regardless of the process of its accession to the European Union, which is nearing completion even though a lot of work remains to be done, Croatian President Ivo Josipovic and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in Brussels on Friday. "The weaknesses that we have in agriculture and shipbuilding are primarily our own internal weaknesses which have not been dealt with for years. The reforms that must be implemented in agriculture and shipbuilding must be undertaken regardless of when we will join the EU, and they would have to be implemented even if we were not joining the EU. I had spoken earlier about problems in the system of government incentives, which were not given to producers, and that must change," Josipovic said after the talks with Barroso.

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BRUSSELS, 4 March 2010

Josipovic and Buzek confident Croatia will join EU soon

Croatian President Ivo Josipovic and European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek said in Brussels on Thursday that they were confident that Croatia would very soon become a member of the European Union, underlining that the remaining work on reforms was being done not only for the sake of EU membership, but for the sake of Croatian citizens. "The fact that Croatia's EU accession talks are now in the final stage was in the focus of our talks. We are aware of the conditions that we must meet. We have strong motivation in the government, among opposition parties, in the parliament. All relevant political forces in Croatia are really united on the issue of EU membership. I am very optimistic and hope that Croatia will soon be a member of the EU," Josipovic said after meeting Buzek.We are sure of that, Buzek said in response to Josipovic's statement.

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ZAGREB, 25 February 2010

Parliament endorses plan of activities for wrapping up EU entry talks

Croatia is already functioning as a European Union country, Foreign Affairs and European Integration Minister Gordan Jandrokovic said in parliament on Thursday presenting a plan of legislative activities for the completion of Croatia's accession negotiations with the EU. "Croatia is looking optimistically at 2010 as an important year for the completion of the negotiations," he said, adding Croatia had opened negotiations on 30 of the 33 policy chapters of the EU acquis communautaire.Seventeen chapters have been provisionally closed and we expect to open the remaining thee chapters (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights, Competition Policy, and Foreign, Security and Defence Policy) by the end of June, during Spain's EU presidency, Jandrokovic said, adding the success of the negotiations was also evidenced by the fact that a task force had started drawing up the accession treaty.

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BRUSSELS, 19 February 2010

Croatia opens two more chapters in EU entry talks

Croatia opened in Brussels on Friday negotiations on two policy chapters in its European Union accession talks which had been blocked for a long time, on the environment and fisheries, whereby the number of opened chapters rose to 30. "We are very happy with the opening of these two chapters. This has confirmed once again that we are in the final stage of our negotiations and this eliminates doubts in the successful completion of our negotiations," Vladimir Drobnjak, Croatia's chief EU entry negotiator, said after a Croatia-EU accession conference.

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ZAGREB, 18 February 2010

Josipovic sworn in as third president of Croatia

Shortly after noon on Thursday, Ivo Josipovic took solemn oath as the third Croatian president at an inauguration ceremony in Zagreb's St. Mark's square, thus beginning his five-year term in office. By taking oath before Constitutional Court President Jasna Omejec and court judges, Josipovic swore loyalty to the Constitution. According to the oath he took, Josipovic has sworn that he will conscientiously and responsibly perform the duty of the President of the Republic to the benefit of the Croatian people and all Croatian citizens.He also pledged that as head of state, he would abide by the Constitution and laws, see to it that the constitutional order of the Republic of Croatia is respected, watch over the proper and fair functioning of all bodies of state authority, and protect the independence, existence and unity of Croatia.

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ZAGREB, 18 February 2010

Croatian foreign and justice ministers meet EU enlargement commissioner

Croatia's Foreign Affairs and European Integration Minister Gordan Jandrokovic and Justice Minister Ivan Simonovic met European Union Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Commissioner Stefan Fuele in Zagreb on Thursday to discuss the progress of Croatia's EU accession negotiations. The meeting focused on the current state of accession negotiations and an intergovernmental accession conference which is scheduled to take place in Brussels on Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration said in a press release.Croatia is due to open talks on two policy chapters -- fisheries and the environment -- in Brussels on Friday.

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ZAGREB, 18 February 2010

Kosor, Fuele discuss completion of EU entry talks this year

Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor on Thursday received European Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele, who welcomed Croatia's considerable progress in accession negotiations with the European Union and stressed that 2010 was the year in which this big and demanding job was expected to be completed, the government said in a press release. Fuele also welcomed the border arbitration agreement with Slovenia and the resolute fight against corruption, voicing confidence that Croatia would continue to invest maximum effort in its cooperation with the Hague war crimes tribunal.Fuele said he wanted to see Croatia in the EU in 2012, adding the achievement of that goal was also important for strengthening stability throughout southeast Europe.

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BRUSSELS, 17 February 2010

COREPER unblocks Judiciary chapter, calls Croatia to give its negotiating position

COREPER, the Committee of Permanent Representatives in the European Union, made up of heads or deputy heads of missions from EU member states in Brussels, on Thursday decided to unblock the policy chapter No. 23 on the Judiciary and Fundamental Rights within Croatia's EU accession negotiations and called on Croatia to forward its position on the chapter. The committee also greenlighted the opening of another two chapters -- Environment and Fisheries.

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STRASBOURG, 10 February 2010

Fuele: European Commission encouraged by Croatia's efforts in combating corruption

The newly-appointed European Union Enlargement Commissioner, Stefan Fuele, said at a plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday that the European Commission was encouraged by the efforts Croatia was undertaking in combating corruption and that Zagreb could wrap up accession negotiations this year provided it continued making progress in meeting the required standards. We are encouraged by developments in recent time in the fight against corruption. We hope investigations into irregularities are leading to concrete results, Fuele said in his first speech since taking over as Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy.Croatia can still complete negotiations in 2010 provided it continues making progress in meeting all the standards. The ball is in Croatia's court. Croatia must focus on further reforms of the judiciary and public administration, the fight against corruption and organised crime, minority rights, including the return of refugees, as well as on war crimes trials and full cooperation with the Hague tribunal, Fuele said during a debate on EU membership candidate countries.

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STRASBOURG, 10 February 2010

European Parliament adopts resolution on Croatia by overwhelming majority

The European Parliament on Wednesday adopted by an overwhelming majority of votes a resolution on the progress of Croatia to European Union membership, saying that accession negotiations could be completed this year provided Croatia met the required criteria. The resolution was carried with a vote of 582 in favour, 24 against and 37 abstentions.There were no major changes to the text of the draft resolution that was endorsed by the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee in late January.European Parliament resolutions are not legally binding, but they send out an important political signal on issues they concern.The European Parliament believes that accession negotiations should proceed smoothly so that they could be completed in 2010, on the condition that Croatia meets all benchmarks for the opening and closing of the negotiation chapters, reads the resolution.

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ZAGREB, 20 January 2010

Simonovic: Croatia has definitely declared war on corruption

Croatia has definitely declared "an all-out war" on corruption and organised crime and is gaining ground in that war, Justice Minister Ivan Simonovic said on Wednesday. "We have the will and the capability to purge Croatia of corruption successfully," Simonovic said in a Croatian Radio programme.Simonovic said that corruption in high places was always the most dangerous, because it was difficult to expose it, but stressed that on the political level there were no doubts about the need for combating corruption because both Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor and President-elect Ivo Josipovic had defined it as the top priority."Over the past year, we have launched a series of investigations," he said, noting that the appointment of Jadranka Kosor as prime minister had provided fresh impetus to the fight against corruption.

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ZAGREB, 19 January 2010

Croatian FM meets EU ambassadors

The Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Gordan Jandrokovic, met in Zagreb on Tuesday with ambassadors Manuel Salazar of Spain, Marc de Schoutheete de Tervarent of Belgium, Peter Imre Gyoerkoes of Hungary and the head of the European Union Delegation in Croatia, Ambassador Paul Vandoren. The meeting focused on the priorities of the Spanish EU Presidency in the first half of this year and an 18-month EU presidency plan jointly prepared by Spain and future EU presidents Belgium and Hungary, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration said in a statement.Jandrokovic thanked the EU member states and the EU Delegation for their support last year, expressing hope that the good cooperation would continue this year, when Croatia is expected to complete its accession negotiations.

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ZAGREB, 11 January 2010

Ivo Josipovic's CV

Ivo Josipovic, a Social Democratic Party member of Parliament, university professor and composer, was elected President of Croatia in the second round of voting on Sunday. Josipovic was born on 28 August 1957 in Zagreb, where he finished primary and secondary school and graduated from the Faculty of Law in 1980. He earned his doctoral degree in 1994 and teaches international criminal law at the Zagreb Faculty of Law.Josipovic represented Croatia at the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court in The Hague, contributed to several international legal projects, and as a Council of Europe expert he participated in the assessment of prison conditions in Ukraine, Mongolia and Azerbaijan.

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ZAGREB, 11 January 2010

Ivo Josipovic elected President of Croatia

Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate Ivo Josipovic was elected President of Croatia in the second round of voting on Sunday, capturing 60.26 per cent of the vote (that is 1,339,385 of cast ballots), according to complete official results released by the State Electoral Commission (DIP) at midday. His rival, independent candidate Milan Bandic, received 39.74 per cent (883,222), DIP chairman Branko Hrvatin said at a press conference. A total of 6848 polling stations were opened in Croatia and abroad. The turnout was 50.13 per cent and 98.64 per cent of ballots were valid.

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BRUSSELS, 21 December 2009

Croatia closes two more chapters within its EU entry talks

Croatia provisionally closed another two policy chapters -- "Right of Establishment and Freedom to Provide Services" and "Social Policy and Employment" -- within its accession negotiations with the European Union, at an intergovernmental conference in Brussels on Monday. Thus, the number of closed chapters has risen to 17. Three policy chapters that have been for long time technically prepared for the opening were not today opened as Slovenia, an EU member, had not okayed it. Those policy chapters are "Foreign, Security and Defence Policy", "Environment" and "Fisheries".

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BRUSSELS, 17 December 2009

Croatia to close 2 more policy chapters in EU talks on Monday

European Union countries on Thursday approved the closing of two chapters in accession negotiations with Croatia which, after an accession conference in Brussels next Monday, will have closed more than half the negotiation chapters, according to diplomatic sources. COREPER, the committee comprising EU countries' ambassadors, greenlighted the closing of the chapters "Right of Establishment and Freedom to Provide Services" and "Social Policy and Employment".Croatia will wrap up this year with 28 negotiation chapters opened and 17 closed. Croatia is negotiating 33 of the 35 chapters of the European acquis communautaire. The excluded chapters are "Institutions" and "Other Issues".

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BRUSSELS, 15 December 2009

Croatia's GDP per capita in 2008 stood at 63 pct of EU average

Croatia's gross domestic product (GDP) at purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita was 63 per cent of the European Union average last year, according to figures released on Tuesday by Eurostat. Croatia has a higher GDP than five EU countries -- Lithuania (62 per cent of the EU average), Latvia (57%), Poland (56%), Romania (47%) and Bulgaria (41%).Of the EU's 12 new countries, Croatia's GDP is below Hungary (64 per cent of the EU average), Estonia (67%), Slovakia (72%), Malta (76%), the Czech Republic (80%), Slovenia (91%) and Cyprus (96%).

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BRUSSELS, 7 December 2009

Work on Croatia's accession treaty to start already this month

The European Union Permanent Representative Committee (COREPER) on Monday decided to set up a task force