The most important event in the year 2006 regarding the relations between Croatia and the European Union was Brussels' decision to separate Croatia's membership talks from the process of Turkey's negotiations. This means that Croatia will be able to proceed at its own pace.
The bulk of this year's negotiating process was spent on the screening, which is a first step towards accession negotiations. The screening entails the examination of the adjustment of Croatia's legislation to the EU acquis communautaire.
The screening began on 20 October 2005 and ended on 18 October 2006. During that period of one year, Croatian negotiators held 66 meetings. Of that, 33 were meetings for the explanatory stage when European Commission officials briefed the Croatian team on the EU's existing body of legislation. The second, bilateral part of the screening process enabled the Croatian negotiators to summarise at the other 33 meetings their achievements in adopting and implementing the acquis and to explain how they intend to proceed.
The screening went smoothly, but the opening of negotiations on policy chapters proceeded more slowly than expected.
In June Croatia and the EU opened and provisionally closed the negotiations on the policy chapter on science and research.
Six months passed before the second chapter was opened and provisionally closed.
At the start this slowness was ascribed to the European Commission that prepared its reports on the screening for each policy chapter rather slowly. In the meantime the Commission accelerated its activities, but the process was stuck waiting for the Council of the European Unions to harmonise its position on the continuation of Turkey's negotiations which were launched on the same day as Croatia's negotiations.
Several months were spent on general discussions on whether a requirement for opening and closing of the policy chapter on education and culture should include the fulfillment of political criteria such as the respect for human and minority rights in the education system, or whether this should be a condition in the chapter of judiciary and fundamental rights.
Although none of EU member states had any objection to Croatia, Zagreb was in a way hostage of the situation in which the Council of the EU criticised Turkey for its treatment of the Kurdish minority and gender inequality in the schooling system.
The problem was solved in December when the Council of the EU accepted the Commission's proposal to partially suspend the negotiations with Turkey over Ankara's refusal to normalise the relations with the Cyprus.
The decision on the partial freezing of Turkey's membership talks paved the way to the acceleration of Croatia's talks.
On 11 December, the negotiations on the education and culture policy chapter were opened and provisionally closed.
On 21 December, at an intergovernmental conference meeting in Brussels, negotiations were opened on the Customs Union, Enterprise and Industry, and Economic and Monetary Policy. Unlike the negotiations on the chapters Science and Research and Education and Culture, which were opened and closed at the same meeting, Croatia will have to meet additional measures -- closing benchmarks -- to close the negotiations opened on those three chapters.
A satisfactory pace of negotiations is expected in 2007.
The European Commission has so far compiled reports for 20 policy chapters, and it is expected to draw up its negotiating platform for the rest of 15 chapters in the first quarter of 2007.
To date, Croatia has been invited to send its negotiating platform on nine policy chapters. The latest invitation was received on 20 December for the chapter on statistics.
So far the Croatian Government has presented its negotiating positions on eight policy chapters and met the benchmark for opening the chapter of justice, freedom and security.
EU leaders granted Croatia official candidate status in June 2004, and accession negotiations were originally scheduled to start on 17 March 2005. However, the launch of talks was put off on 16 March pending Zagreb's "full co-operation" with the UN war crimes tribunal. Finally, on 3 October 2005, Zagreb received a green light for accession talks to commence.