Opening negotiations on six chapters is a signal that this is more than statistics, that this is a real breakthrough. These six and the chapters opened before show that Croatia is making good progress on the path to the EU, the chairman of the Council of the European Union, German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, told the press after an Intergovernmental Conference on accession on the ministerial level.
Negotiations were opened on the following chapters: Right of Establishment and Freedom to Provide Services, Company Law, Financial Services, Information Society and Media, Statistics, and Financial Control. Croatia has opened negotiations on a total of 12 chapters now, and negotiations have been closed on two.
"This is a big achievement in Croatia's accession negotiations, a real breakthrough," said Croatia's Foreign Affairs and European Integration Minister Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, adding that Croatia had now opened negotiations on more than one-third of all chapters.
"We intend to continue at the same pace and I hope we shall continue like this under Portugal's Presidency. In 2007 we want to open as many chapters as possible so that we can begin meeting the benchmarks for closing them, and 2008 will be the year of the closing of the chapters. We believe we shall be ready for membership in 2009 and then it is up to the EU to formally ratify the accession agreement."
Grabar-Kitarovic said Croatia was determined to fight corruption and raise public awareness of its damage as well as to reform the judiciary and build administrative capabilities.
European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn voiced confidence that Croatia's negotiations would be swift, saying reforms on the ground and their concrete results were the most important thing.
Therefore, I would strongly recommend that Croatia continue to focus and intensify judicial and economic reforms, he said.
Rehn said that by opening today's chapters Croatia had entered the key areas of the internal market, such as freedom to provide services, company law and financial services. Financial control is important for the protection of taxpayers' interests in the EU and Croatia, while statistics is the foundation for sound and transparent decision-making.
Croatia will be able to close negotiations on these six chapters upon meeting a number of benchmarks, of which the most have been set for the Right of Establishment and Freedom to Provide Services chapter. Most benchmarks refer to legislative adjustments. Croatia has not requested a transitional period for any of these chapters.
According to some indications, Croatia could open negotiations on one or two more chapters as early as July.
Zagreb has sent Brussels four negotiating positions and now waits for the EU's answer, and is working on four more negotiating positions.