Speaking at a round table debate on EU enlargement and trade integration, Vujcic said the level of commodity trade with the old EU member-countries had been stagnating at the level of up to 60 percent for more than a decade and that Croatia was one of the few transition countries whose current trade with the EU was lower than in 1990.
Despite delays, last year Croatia was given a positive opinion from the European Commission with regard to trade liberalisation and the level of integration of its economy with the EU. However, the required level of meeting all criteria will be made conditional on the political situation at the moment of Croatia's integration with the EU, said Ana-Maria Boromisa of the Institute for International Relations.
She went on to say that the current political crisis in the EU could prolong the deadline for the next enlargement round, by which time Croatia would have to make additional adjustments to the new levels of openness of the EU market.
By 2010, when Croatia is optimistically expected to join the EU, the EU should complete trade negotiations with former Soviet countries, as well as with some Mediterranean countries, Boromisa said. Croatia would thus be expected to liberalise its market also towards those countries, and a similar thing will happen if the EU reaches an agreement with, for example, China, she said.
The round table debate was organised by the Institute for Public Finance and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation as part of workshops dealing with topics related to challenges and adjustments in the process of integration with the EU.