The resolution was passed by 548 votes to 43 with 52 abstentions.
"Negotiations with Croatia can be completed in the first half of 2011 provided that the necessary reforms continue to be pursued resolutely", says Parliament urging Croatia to continue carrying out reforms in strengthening the public administration and judiciary, in the struggle against corruption. in ensuring sustainable return for refugees, in full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and in continuation of the privatisation process and in adopting plans for restructuring ailing shipyards.
Before the adoption, a score of MEPs as well as Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi and European Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele took part in an hour-long debate on Croatia's ambition to complete the EU accession talks as soon as possible.
The text of the resolution, endorsed by the EP foreign affairs committee on 26 January, remained mainly the same with only eight amendments submitted after the committee's approval.
One of the adopted amendments, proposed by the European Parliament rapporteur on Croatia, Hannes Swoboda, calls on Croatia to remain active in trying war crimes cases. Croatia is also urged to amend its penal code in accordance with the highest international standards, notably when it comes to the definition of the crimes against humanity, command responsibility, legislation on sexual abuse and additional improvement of witness protection measures.
Also passed was Swoboda's amendment for calling on Croatia to apply the highest environmental standards in plans to build hydro power plants on the Danube.
The resolution "welcomes the efforts of the Croatian Government to take a strong stance against all forms of corruption" and "takes note of the high-profile anti-corruption cases under way involving a former Prime Minister, two former ministers, high-profile civil servants and numerous general managers of state-owned firms". The document "expects transparent and fair trials and reminds the Croatian authorities of the importance of protecting the corruption investigation process from political interference".
The resolution also notes that "corruption seems to have been widespread in Croatia and remains a serious overall problem", involving different segments of society, economy and political institutions.
Croatia is commended for "the substantial progress achieved in attaining the benchmarks necessary for the conclusion of the accession negotiations" and the document calls on the Commission "to use all its capacities to support Croatia's efforts to attain the benchmarks".
Concerning Croatia's cooperation with the Hague-based ICTY, the document calls on the Council of the EU to take into account the ICTY trial chamber's position that "it could not be determined with sufficient certainty whether the requested artillery logs still exist."
The resolution calls on the Croatian Government "to intensify its administrative investigation concerning the requested military documents and clarify inconsistencies in its reports to the Prosecutor's Office" that were mentioned in the latest statement by Prosecutor Serge Brammertz to the UN Security Council and have not been resolved yet.
The European Parliament notes "that freedom of expression, including freedom and pluralism of the media, is provided for in Croatian law and generally respected in the country."
It calls on the Croatian authorities "to take further steps to ensure the independence of media outlets and create conditions for their professionalism as well as to continue to demonstrate their commitment to ensuring that the media sector operates without political interference and that the independence of regulatory bodies is guaranteed."
The document "encourages the Croatian authorities further to vigorously investigate cases of intimidation and political pressure on journalists as well as commercial influence, and to improve the investigation of threats against journalists working on cases of corruption, organised crime and other unlawful activities." In this respect, it welcomes the ruling of the Zagreb District Court in the case of the murder of editor Ivo Pukanic. It notes, however, that the Croatian Radio and Television (HRT) "continues to face serious managerial difficulties following several unsuccessful attempts by the HRT Programme Council to elect a new director of HRT".