The committee of permanent representatives (COREPER), which is comprised of member countries' ambassadors, will exchange views on the basis of a document they will receive from Luxembourg's European Union presidency, a presidency source said on Wednesday.
It added the COREPER debate would show what each member country thought of Croatia's cooperation with the Hague war crimes tribunal, which is the Union's condition for Croatia's accession talks to start on March 17.
COREPER will draft a decision which the EU foreign ministers may modify at their March 16 meeting if something in Croatia's cooperation with the UN court changes by then, the source said. COREPER is scheduled to convene again on March 15.
Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said today Croatia's accession talks might start next week even without the arrest of fugitive indictee Ante Gotovina provided that Zagreb proved it cooperated fully with the Hague tribunal.