The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the process of screening of adjustment of Croatia's legislation to the EU acquis communautaire was proceeding according to the schedule.
Until the end of July, 29 explanatory and 25 bilateral screenings out of a total of 33 screenings will be over, the same source said.
The pace of negotiations is dynamic and the entire screening process should be over in mid-October.
It is difficult to say how much time the entire negotiation process will take and one should not draw parallels between Croatia and countries that have become EU member states, he added.
Croatia currently has two main strategic goals: to complete the screening according to plan and focus on benchmarks. The first benchmarks for at least three chapters are likely to be sent to Zagreb within the next ten days.
The process which will ensue after that is the opening of negotiations on the chapters, and the first chapter to be negotiated is science and research. After that, negotiations will be launched on education and culture.
To open negotiations on a chapter requires setting benchmarks, meeting them and verifying what has been done, all of which takes much time, the source added.
Croatia has defined its negotiating positions for chapters on science and research and on education and culture, and is now waiting for the EU to elaborate a joint position on the said chapters.