The EU Council Reminded of Croatia’s Promise

The Council for General Affairs of the European Union welcomed on Tuesday in its conclusions the progress that Croatia has made in preparations for membership and called for a focus on the ten tasks identified by the European Commission in its latest monitoring report.

– The Council thoroughly examined the monitoring report and the monitoring tables and is pleased to note that Croatia has continued to make progress in adopting and implementing EU legislation, that it is completing alignment with the EU acquis, and that it has achieved significant results in numerous areas. It is essential that Croatia sharpens its focus on the 10 issues highlighted by the Commission in the areas of Competition, Justice and Fundamental Rights, and Justice, Freedom and Security – states the Council’s conclusions. The Council for General Affairs, composed of ministers of foreign and European affairs, discussed on Tuesday the enlargement issues based on the enlargement package published by the Commission in October.

At the meeting, the assistant to the Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Hrvoje Marušić, participated as an observer. The conclusions of the ministerial council will also be confirmed by the heads of state or government of the member countries, who will meet at the summit on December 13 and 14. At the December summit, EU leaders traditionally adopt conclusions on enlargement. No discussion is expected at the summit, but the conclusions previously adopted by the Council for General Affairs will simply be ‘noted’.

– The Council supports the specific recommendations from the Commission’s report and calls on Croatia to address these issues without delay in order to complete its preparations on time and for this to be reflected in the final monitoring report that the Commission will present in spring 2013, in accordance with the accession treaty – states the conclusions. The ministers also ‘reminded of Croatia’s promise that bilateral issues must not obstruct the accession process of candidate countries’.

– Croatia is expected to continue to play an active role in regional cooperation in the Western Balkans. Given the importance of good neighborly relations and the implementation of binding international agreements, the Council encourages Croatia to continue addressing all open bilateral issues, including succession issues, based on the progress made so far. Further efforts are needed to address the issue of impunity for war crimes through impartial handling of open cases and through continued full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia – states the conclusions.

The draft conclusions express satisfaction with the process of ratification of the accession treaty and welcome Croatia as a member of the Union from July 1.