Accession of Croatia to the European Union 4638190 225199851 2008-07-12T12:33:36Z Mauls 492987 {{Infobox EU accession bid | logo = EU Accession Croatia.png | status = Candidate | nation = Croatia | national_denonym = Croatian | map = European Union Croatia Locator.svg | chapters_opened = 20 | chapters_closed = 2 | national_GDP_PPP = 74.419 | national_area_total = 56,542 | national_population = 4,453,500 | website = [http://www.eu-pregovori.hr/default.asp?jezik=2 eu-pregovori.hr] }} [[Croatia]] applied for [[European Union]] membership in [[2003]], and the [[European Commission]] recommended making it an official candidate in early [[2004]]. Candidate country status was granted to Croatia by the [[European Council]] (the EU's heads of government) in mid-[[2004]]. The entry negotiations, while originally set for March [[2005]], began in October that year, also launching the screening process. Croatia is expected to finally join in [[2010]]<ref>[http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/8575/ BalkanInsight.com - Croatia 'To Join EU by 2010'<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>. After [[Slovenia]], Croatia has recovered best from the [[Dissolution of Yugoslavia|break-up of the former Yugoslavia]] and so hopes to become the second former [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslav state]] to become a member. It has a stable [[market economy]] and it is ahead of EU member states [[Bulgaria]] and [[Romania]] in some economic indicators such as GDP per capita. Croatia's membership bid has been made possible due to the reinforcement of the country's institutions, [[electoral reform]], increases in funding for the country's [[Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia|Constitutional Court]] and Ombudsman, and improvements in minority rights and the return and integration of refugees, which facilitated the closure of the [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]]'s Croatian Mission in late [[2007]].<ref>[http://194.8.63.155/croatia/item_1_29146.html OSCE Office in Zagreb - Homepage<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> {{TOCleft}} <br clear=left> ==Issues of dispute== {{Politics of Croatia}} ===ICTY cooperation=== [[Image:Croatia EU flags.jpg|thumb|left|The [[flag of Croatia]] and the [[European flag]], on a building of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European integration, in Zagreb]] Croatia has had to extradite several of its citizens to the [[International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia]] (ICTY), an issue that was often contentious in domestic politics. Croatia's relations with the court had continuously been cited by the EU officials as something that required further improvement. Ratification of the [[European Union Association Agreement|EU Stabilisation and Association Agreement]] with Croatia had been stalled because of this. The European Council, after its summit of [[December 20]], [[2004]], set the following March 17 as the date to start entry negotiations, provided that Croatia continued to cooperate fully with the ICTY. On [[March 16]], [[2005]] &ndash; the day before talks were to begin &ndash; the EU postponed the commencement of negotiations, because the ICTY prosecution assessed the Croatian efforts to capture the fugitive general [[Ante Gotovina]] (indicted by the ICTY for [[war crimes]] and [[crimes against humanity]], but at large since [[2001]]) as neither timely nor sufficient. On December 7, 2005 Spanish Police finally arrested Ante Gotovina with the help of the Spanish and Croatian government on the Spanish island of [[Tenerife]], located in the [[Canary Islands]]. He was brought to [[The Hague]] to be tried for war crimes. With the arrest of Ante Gotovina this issue seems to be now resolved, and entry negotiations have began anew, after the certification of ICTY chief prosecutor [[Carla Del Ponte]] that Croatia now fully cooperates with the ICTY. ===Border disagreements=== {{seealso|Foreign relations of Croatia#Slovenia}} Croatia must also contend with long-standing border issues with [[Slovenia]] &ndash; a series of border disputes could yet threaten Slovenia's support for Croatia's accession, but good trade relations have thus far precluded this. ===Land ownership=== {{seealso|Foreign relations of Croatia#Italy}} Free acquisition of real estate by foreigners is a sensitive issue in Croatia. This matter particularly concerns Italians, especially in [[Istria]]. While it has strong cultural and historic ties with Italy, the events surrounding [[World War II]], when Istria changed hands between the Kingdom of [[Italy]] and [[SFR Yugoslavia]], are more pertinent to the current issues. Numerous Italian politicians have expressed their discontent concerning the current inability of Italians to purchase land in Croatia, considering it discriminatory treatment, and stating that this issue should be resolved as soon as possible. Croatia denies discrimination, indicating that Croatian legislation provides for the same treatment of all EU citizens concerning this issue. In mid-[[2006]] Croatia and Italy agreed, and now Italian citizens may purchase land in Croatia, and Croatian citizens may purchase land in Italy. The same kind of measures, concerning this issue, have been employed by many new EU member countries before their own accession to the EU. Examples of this include [[Slovenia]], [[Slovakia]], [[Poland]], and especially [[Malta]]. ==Negotiation progress== {{seealso|Enlargement of the European Union#Progress of future enlargements}} {| colspan=2 class=wikitable | {| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing=0 class="toccolours" style="border-collapse:collapse; text-align:center; font-size:90%;" width=“100%“ |- bgcolor="#ececec" !style="text-align:left;" | '''[[Acquis#Chapters of the Acquis|Acquis chapter]]''' !Progress |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''1. Free Movement of Goods''' | bgcolor=#ff8040 | fs <!-- exact date of screening begin: 16.1.2006, finish: 24.2.2006, open: ?, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''2. Freedom of Movement for Workers''' | bgcolor=#ff8040 | o <!-- exact date of screening begin: 19.7.2006, finish: 11.9.2006, open: 17.6.2008, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''3. Right of Establishment & Freedom to provide Services''' | bgcolor=#ff8040 | o <!-- exact date of screening begin: 21.11.2005, finish: 20.12.2005, open: 26.06.2007, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''4. Free Movement of Capital''' | bgcolor=#ffff55 | fs <!-- exact date of screening begin: 25.11.2005, finish: 22.12.2005, open: ?, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''5. Public Procurement''' | bgcolor=#ff8040 | fs <!-- exact date of screening begin: 7.11.2005, finish: 28.11.2005, open: ?, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''6. Company Law''' | bgcolor=#ffff55 | o <!-- exact date of screening begin: 21.6.2006, finish: 20.7.2006, open: 26.06.2007, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''7. Intellectual Property Law''' | bgcolor=#ccffcc | o <!-- exact date of screening begin: 6.2.2006, finish: 3.3.2006, open: 29.03.2007, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''8. Competition Policy''' | bgcolor=#ff8040 | fs <!-- exact date of screening begin: 8.11.2005, finish: 2.12.2005, open: ?, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''9. Financial Services''' | bgcolor=#ff8040 | o <!-- exact date of screening begin: 29.3.2006, finish: 3.5.2006, open: 26.06.2007, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''10. Information Society & Media''' | bgcolor=#ffff55 | o <!-- exact date of screening begin: 12.6.2006, finish: 14.7.2006, open: 26.06.2007, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''11. Agriculture & Rural Development''' | bgcolor=#ff8040 | fs <!-- exact date of screening begin: 5.12.2005, finish: 26.1.2006, open: ?, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''12. Food safety, Veterinary & Phytosanitary Policy''' | bgcolor=#ff8040 | fs <!-- exact date of screening begin: 9.3.2006, finish: 28.4.2006, open: ?, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''13. Fisheries''' | bgcolor=#ffff55 | fs <!-- exact date of screening begin: 24.2.2006, finish: 31.3.2006, open: ?, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''14. Transport Policy''' | bgcolor=#ffff55 | o <!-- exact date of screening begin: 26.6.2006, finish: 28.9.2006, open: 21.4.2008, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''15. Energy''' | bgcolor=#ffff55 | o <!-- exact date of screening begin: 15.5.2006, finish: 16.6.2006, open: 21.4.2008, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''16. Taxation''' | bgcolor=#ff8040 | fs <!-- exact date of screening begin: 6.6.2006, finish: 12.7.2006, open: ?, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''17. Economic & Monetary Policy''' | bgcolor=#ccffcc | o <!-- exact date of screening begin: 16.2.2006, finish: 23.3.2006, open: ?, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''18. Statistics''' | bgcolor=#ccffcc | o <!-- exact date of screening begin: 19.6.2006, finish: 18.7.2006, open: 26.06.2007, close: ? --> |- |} || {| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing=0 class="toccolours" style="border-collapse:collapse; text-align:center; font-size:90%;" width=“100%“ |- bgcolor="#ececec" !style="text-align:left;" | '''[[Acquis#Chapters of the Acquis|Acquis chapter]]''' !Progress |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''19. Social Policy & Employment'''<sup>2</sup> | bgcolor=#ff8040 | o <!-- exact date of screening begin: 8.2.2006, finish: 22.3.2006, open: 17.6.2008, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''20. Enterprise & Industrial Policy''' | bgcolor=#ccffcc | o <!-- exact date of screening begin: 27.3.2006, finish: 5.5.2006, open: ?, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''21. Trans-European Networks''' | bgcolor=#ccffcc | o <!-- exact date of screening begin: 30.6.2006, finish: 29.9.2006, open: 19.12.2007, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''22. Regional Policy & Coordination of Structural Instruments''' | bgcolor=#ff8040 | fs <!-- exact date of screening begin: 11.9.2006, finish: 10.10.2006, open: ?, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''23. Judiciary & Fundamental Rights''' | bgcolor=#ff8040 | fs <!-- exact date of screening begin: 6.9.2006, finish: 13.10.2006, open: ?, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''24. Justice, Freedom & Security''' | bgcolor=#ff8040 | fs <!-- exact date of screening begin: 23.1.2006, finish: 15.2.2006, open: ?, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''25. Science & Research''' | bgcolor=#ccffcc | x <!-- exact date of screening begin: 20.10.2005, finish: 14.11.2005, open: 12.06.2006, close: 12.06.2006 --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''26. Education & Culture''' | bgcolor=#ccffcc | x <!-- exact date of screening begin: 26.10.2005, finish: 16.11.2005, open: 11.12.2006, close: 11.12.2006 --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''27. Environment''' | bgcolor=#ff33ff | fs <!-- exact date of screening begin: 3.4.2006, finish: 2.6.2006, open: ?, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''28. Consumer & Health Protection''' | bgcolor=#ffff55 | o <!-- exact date of screening begin: 8.6.2006, finish: 11.7.2006, open: 12.10.2007, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''29. Customs Union''' | bgcolor=#ffff55 | o <!-- exact date of screening begin: 31.1.2006, finish: 14.3.2006, open: ?, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''30. External Relations''' | bgcolor=#ccffcc | o <!-- exact date of screening begin: 10.7.2006, finish: 13.9.2006, open: 12.10.2007, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''31. Foreign, Security & Defence Policy''' | bgcolor=#ccffcc | fs <!-- exact date of screening begin: 14.9.2006, finish: 6.10.2006, open: ?, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''32. Financial Control''' | bgcolor=#ffff55 | o <!-- exact date of screening begin: 18.5.2006, finish: 30.6.2006, open: 26.06.2007, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''33. Financial & Budgetary Provisions''' | bgcolor=#ccffcc | o <!-- exact date of screening begin: 6.9.2006, finish: 4.10.2006, open: 19.12.2007, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''34. Institutions''' | bgcolor="#ececec" | - <!-- exact date of screening begin: -, finish: -, open: ?, close: ? --> |- | style="text-align:left;" | '''35. Other Issues''' | bgcolor="#ececec" | - <!-- exact date of screening begin: -, finish: -, open: ?, close: ? --> |- | &nbsp; | &nbsp; |- |} |} <small><sup>2</sup> Including anti-discrimination and equal opportunities for men and women.</small> {| |- valign=top | width=33% | <span style="color:#aa0;">(brackets)</span>: expected date | colspan=2 | situation of policy area at the '''start''' of membership negotiations. |- valign=top | width=33% | '''s''' - screening of the chapter<br> '''fs''' - finished screening<br> '''o''' - open chapter<br> '''x''' - provisionally closed chapter | width=33% | {{legend|#ececec|non-acquis chapter - nothing to adopt}} {{legend|#cfc|no major difficulties expected}} {{legend|#ff5|further efforts needed}} | width=33% | {{legend|#ff8040|considerable efforts needed}} {{legend|#f00|very hard to adopt}} {{legend|#f3f|current situation totally incompatible with EU acquis}} |} ==Timeline== {| class=wikitable !Date !Event |- | [[October 29]], [[2001]] || Croatia signs the [[Stabilisation and Association Agreement]] (SAA) |- | [[February 21]], [[2003]] || Formal application for membership submitted |- | [[October 9]], [[2003]] || Croatia submits answers to the Commission's Questionnaire |- | [[April 20]], [[2004]] || European Commission replies to the answers with a positive opinion (Avis) |- | [[June 18]], [[2004]] || Croatia receives official candidate status |- | [[December 20]], [[2004]] || European Council sets the date for the entry negotiations to begin [[March 17]], [[2005]] |- | [[February 1]], [[2005]] || SAA comes into force |- | [[March 16]], [[2005]] || Negotiations postponed |- | [[October 3]], [[2005]] || The beginning of negotiations |- | [[October 20]], [[2005]] ||Beginning of the screening process |- | [[June 12]], [[2006]] || Opening and closing of the Science & Research chapter of the [[Acquis communautaire]] |- | [[June 28]], [[2006]] || Opening of the Competition Policy and Customs Union chapters of the Acquis |- | [[20 July]] [[2006]] || Opening of Social Policy & Employment chapter of the Acquis |- | [[December 11]], [[2006]] || Opening and closing of the Education & Culture chapter of the Acquis |- | [[29 March]] [[2007]] || Opening of Intellectual Property Law chapter of the Acquis |- | [[June 26]], [[2007]] || Opening of six chapters of the Acquis: Right of Establishment & Freedom to provide Services, Company Law, Financial Services, Information Society & Media, Statistics and Financial Control |- | [[October 12]], [[2007]] || Opening of Consumer & Health Protection and External Relations chapters of the Acquis |- | [[20 December]] [[2007]] || Opening of Trans-European Networks and Financial & Budgetary Provisions chapters of the Acquis |- | [[21 April]] [[2008]] || Opening of Energy and Transport Policy chapters of the Acquis |- | [[17 June]] [[2008]] || Opening of Social Policy & Employment and Freedom of Movement for Workers chapters of the Acquis |} ==Possible accession dates== In June [[2006]], the EU officials projected that the accession of Croatia would likely happen in [[2009]] or [[2010]]. The closure of negotiations for all chapters of the ''[[acquis communautaire]]'' is expected in [[2008]] or [[2009]], while signing the Accession treaty would happen in the year after. Before starting negotiations with Croatia, the ''acquis'' was divided into 35 chapters, 4 more than the previous 31; the new chapters, previously part of the agricultural policy and judiciary, are complex areas - their division into a few smaller chapters is meant to enable more efficient and expedient negotiations. Originally [[Croatia]] had been aiming for a [[2007]] accession date&mdash;such an accomplishment would have broken Slovakia's record of 2.5 years of negotiations to complete the process. It has been remarked by [[Olli Rehn]] that the EU does expect a similar speed from Croatia. Still, the EU needs to solve its internal problems before accommodating any new member after 2007; under the current [[Treaty of Nice]], the EU cannot function with more than 27 member states. The [[EU Constitution]] would have had this problem solved, but its rejection made any future accession more difficult, requiring additional administrative reforms. In June 2006 commissioner Rehn stated that there will be no further enlargement of the European Union in this decade other than the 2007 accession of [[Bulgaria]] and [[Romania]], due to the impasse in EU treaty reform following the rejection of the [[European Constitution]] in [[France]] and [[The Netherlands]]. Nevertheless Croatia will probably be the "first to meet all necessary conditions" and therefore be "the next country on the list", according to Rehn.<ref>[http://www.euractiv.com/en/enlargement/rehn-croatia-join-eu-2010/article-156042 Euractiv.com - Croatia will not join EU before 2010] - URL accessed on June 12, 2006.</ref> The [[Treaty of Lisbon]] should erase all legal blocks currently preventing accession by Croatia to the Union. With the entry into force of that treaty &ndash; probably in 2009 &ndash; Croatia will be able to join the European Union. On the [[25 April]] 2007 the [[European Parliament]] congratulated Croatia for making "rapid progress" towards membership, but stated that "it must make further efforts in areas such as cooperation with the [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia|ICTY]], reform of the judiciary and the transition to a market economy".<ref>European Parliament, [http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/027-5738-113-04-17-903-20070420IPR05684-23-04-2007-2007-false/default_en.htm Croatia: Good progress towards accession and some issues remain], 25 April 2007, accessed 27 April 2007</ref> MEPs also stressed the need for a new institutional framework for the EU by 2008 in order to accommodate Croatia. [[Austria]] and the [[Czech Republic]] predict Croatia will be ready for EU membership by [[2009]].<ref>[http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2008/01/07/afx4501933.html Croatia could conclude EU talks in 2009 - Austria and Czech premiers]</ref> President of [[Poland]] [[Lech Kaczynski]] also supported 2009 as Croatia's time of accession.<ref>[http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-01/25/content_7491126.htm Poland supports Croatia's joining EU in 2009]</ref> As of January 2008, negotiations are expected to be concluded by the end of the year with MEPs giving approval the following year before the [[European Parliament election, 2009|2009 election]]. A likely accession date after that would be 2011.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/03/d8d05d76-3497-47ed-bc32-e1636d53bd74.html|title=Balkans: EU praises Croatia, fears Serbia backlash|publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|author=Ahto Lobjakas|date=2008-03-05|accessdate=2008-03-11}}</ref> On [[6 March]] 2008, Krister Bringeus, the [[Sweden|Swedish]] [[Ambassador]] to Serbia was quoted as saying that Croatia and Serbia were likely to join the EU together between 2012 and 2015.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/8433/|title=Serbia & Croatia 'join EU together'|publisher=BalkanInsight.com|date=2008-03-06|accessdate=2008-03-09}}</ref> This comment caused considerably controversy until the Swedish government suggested that the remarks had been misreported and the Ambassador to Croatia, Lars Fredén, restated Sweden's position that it would aim to conclude negotiations during its presidency of the EU in 2009.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.mvpei.hr/custompages/static/hrv/templates/_frt_Priopcenja_en.asp?id=3649|title=Press release 70/08|author=Mario Dragun|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Croatia|date=2008-03-07|accessdate=2008-03-07}}</ref> On [[13 March]] [[2008]], [[President of the European Commission]] [[José Manuel Barroso]] stated that Croatia could conclude negotiations in the year [[2009]] and join the EU as early as 2010, after the country suspended a dispute over fishing that it had with Slovenia.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/13/europe/EU-Croatia.php|title=EU says Croatia on course to join the bloc in 2010|publisher=''[[International Herald Tribune]]''|date=2008-03-13|accessdate=2008-03-13}}</ref> ==See also== * [[Foreign relations of Croatia]] * [[Enlargement of the European Union]] ==References== {{reflist}} ==Further reading== * {{cite journal | quotes = | last = Jović | first = Dejan | authorlink = | coauthors = | date = | year = 2006 | month = April | title = Croatia and the European Union: a long delayed journey | journal = [[Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans]] | volume = 8 | issue = 1 | pages = 85–103 | issn = | pmid = | doi = | id = | url = http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/cjsb/2006/00000008/00000001/art00006 | language = | format = | accessdate = | laysummary = | laysource = | laydate = | quote = }} ==External links== *[http://www.eu-pregovori.hr/default.asp?jezik=2 '''Official website - Negotiations for the Accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union'''] * [http://europa.eu.int/pol/enlarg/index_en.htm Official EU-website concerning enlargement] ** [http://europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/index_en.htm Website of the European Commission concerning the enlargement process] * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/europe/2003/inside_europe/default.stm BBC News: inside Europe: EU enlargement] {{European Union candidates|state=expanded}} [[Category:Enlargement of the European Union|Croatia]] [[Category:Foreign relations of Croatia]] [[bg:Отношения между Хърватия и Европейския съюз]] [[cs:Vstup Chorvatska do EU]] [[hr:Pristupanje Hrvatske Europskoj uniji]]