Pusić submitted eight out of 10 tasks

The head of Croatian diplomacy, Vesna Pusić, presented to the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Štefan Füle, an overview indicating that Croatia has fulfilled eight out of the last 10 tasks.

The two remaining tasks, which are shipbuilding and border crossings in Neum, will be completed in the next few weeks.  Therefore, Croatia expects a fully positive final report from the Commission on its readiness on March 21. The only uncertainty remains the Slovenian ratification. Financial experts for Ljubljanska Banka will meet again in a week. In Brussels, there is speculation that a soon agreement between Zagreb and Ljubljana is possible despite the turmoil in the Slovenian political scene.

Commissioner Füle, after the meeting with Pusić, issued a statement welcoming the progress of the ratification of the Croatian accession treaty in member states. He was pleased to note that the ratification of the accession treaty in member states has advanced. The Commissioner also called for increased efforts from Croatia and Slovenia to find a mutually acceptable solution to the Ljubljanska Banka issue as soon as possible, the statement said.

The First Deputy Prime Minister of the Croatian Government and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, in addition to meeting with Füle, discussed the completion of Croatia’s remaining tasks in the context of preparations for membership and the final report on pre-accession monitoring with the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Policy and Security, Catherine Ashton, the Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Interinstitutional Relations and Administration, Maroš Šefčovič, and the Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Competition, Joaquín Almunia.

Since some countries that have not yet ratified the Croatian accession treaty are waiting for the final monitoring report, the Commission has decided to move the publication of the report from April to March to allow for timely ratification in those countries.

So far, 20 member states have ratified the Croatian accession treaty. The ratification process has begun in the remaining six countries, but it has not yet started in Slovenia.

Ratification has not yet been completed in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Slovenia. In some of these countries, the process is nearing completion, such as in the United Kingdom, France, and Belgium.

Slovenia is delaying the procedure by conditioning ratification on resolving the Ljubljanska Banka issue, while Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands will wait for the final report from the European Commission on monitoring. The Commission, in a comprehensive monitoring report published on October 10, identified ten tasks covering three chapters – Competition, Justice and Fundamental Rights, and Justice, Freedom, and Security, which must be completed by the date of entry into the EU on July 1, 2013.