Addressing a Government session, he said the new round of technical preparations for the start of the negotiations would take place in mid-February.
He said that negotiations on each of the 36 chapters would start after the screening. He added the official confirmation of the chapters was expected on February 2, when the European Commission is due to adopt a framework for the negotiations.
Drobnjak said the screening was expected to be open for all chapters by the summer and that it would consist of two stages.
In the first stage the European Commission will explain which sections of the EU legal standards referred to a specific chapter, for example fisheries, Drobnjak said, adding that for some chapters the screening would last one day, while for complex ones it would last up to a month.
The second stage examines Croatia's legislative and organisational framework to show in which areas minor and in which major changes are necessary to adjust to EU standards, said Drobnjak.
He added that once the screening was over Croatia's obligations would be much clearer. "We'll know what awaits us, what we can and what we can't do, what suits us and what doesn't, and where we'll ask for an exception to be made."
Drobnjak said that the screening would make it possible for the negotiations to start in some areas right away, while in some they would start only once certain commitments were met, for example in organisational terms.