The European Parliament
indicated on Wednesday that
it would give approve
Croatia's EU entry before
the 2009 EU parliamentary
elections, if the country
has completed its accession
talks by that time.
Praising Croatia for the
progress it has made so far
in its EU accession talks,
the European Parliament (EP)
urged the country on
Wednesday (April 25th) to
step up efforts towards the
successful completion of the
process.
Croatia began its
membership negotiations with
the Union in October 2005
and hopes it will be able to
join the 27-nation bloc in
2009. It has thus far opened
talks on six of the 35
negotiating chapters and is
likely to see more opened
before Portugal takes over
the rotating EU presidency
from Germany on July 1st.
"Croatia should do its
utmost to carry out the
necessary reforms so that
the negotiations can be
concluded in time for the
European Parliament to give
its assent before the next
EU parliamentary election in
June 2009," the EP said on
Wednesday, in a resolution
concerning a report on the
Balkan country's accession
progress in 2006.
The report, drafted by
the EP rapporteur for
Croatia, Hannes Swoboda,
noted that while key pieces
of legislation in crucial
areas such as public
administration, the
administration of courts and
anti-corruption policy have
been adopted, more efforts
in these and other fields
are needed.
"More needs to be done,"
the AP quoted German Deputy
Foreign Minister Guenther
Gloser as telling the EU
lawmakers. "Corruption is
still a serious problem.
Reform efforts should be
accelerated. There's a lot
on Croatia's plate."
Stressing that "an open,
competitive market economy
is a fundamental requirement
for EU membership," the EP
urged Croatia to meet the
agreed targets concerning
the sale of state-owned
enterprises and the
reduction of state
subsidies, particularly to
shipbuilding and steel
companies. Lawmakers also
urged Zagreb to implement
measures that would allow EU
nationals to buy real
estate. Croatia should also
take steps to bring its
environmental policies in
line with EU standards.
Stressing the need for
Croatia's full co-operation
with the International
Criminal Tribunal for the
former Yugoslavia, EU
lawmakers criticised Zagreb
for offering to help pay for
attorneys representing
Croatian army generals
indicted for war crimes.
Emphasising the need for
a thorough reform of the
judicial system, the EP
voiced criticism over the
"persisting bias amongst
some judicial staff against
non-Croatian nationals,"
shortcomings in the area of
witness protection and the
appointment of judicial
staff.
The EU lawmakers also
urged Croatia and Slovenia
to exhaust every effort to
settle remaining border
disputes bilaterally,
proposing that they only
resort to "the good offices
of a third party" if
solutions cannot be found.
Commenting on Wednesday's
resolution, Croatian Prime
Minister Ivo Sanader said
the key issue for Croatia
was to receive confirmation
of its accession treaty
before the EP's term expires
in June 2009. "If that
happened, it would be a big
success for Croatia," he
said.