"The real reason for the postponement of the screening were preparations for this chapter which is new and which resulted from the previous major chapter on justice and home affairs being split in two," Croatia's chief negotiator Vladimir Drobnjak said.
"We are satisfied that everything is going according to plan and that we have finally sunk our teeth into one of the biggest and most important chapters," Drobnjak said.
Snjezana Bagic, the negotiator for the chapter on justice and fundamental rights, said that the chapter was closest to chapters considered to be the political criteria, because it was closest to the protection of human rights.
The EU insists on respect for four principles in the area of justice - autonomy, impartiality, professionalism and efficiency.
Bagic said that Croatia had used the postponement of the screening to continue with the judicial reform.
"We tried to reduce the backlog of cases, primarily those relating to land registers and property seizure," Bagic said, adding that the number of property seizure cases had been reduced by more than 300,000 and those related to land registers by 170,000 cases.
Progress has also been made in the fight against corruption, said Bagic, announcing that a bill on the financing of political parties could soon be sent to parliament.
Speaking of the rights of ethnic minorities, Bagic said that Croatia had done a lot in the return of displaced people and refugees, but not only of Serbs.
The government recently adopted a document which regulates housing accommodation for that category of citizens, she added.
The explanatory screening for the chapter on justice and fundamental rights continues on Friday, while the bilateral screening will be held on 17 and 18 October. The chapter on justice and fundamental rights is the last chapter in the process of screening, which started on October 20 last year.