Membership talks are not typical negotiations but the adjustment of a candidate country's legislation to that of the EU, including the setting of transitional periods. There are 35 chapters to be negotiated and each will be negotiated separately, but parallel negotiations may be held on a number of chapters, the minister said.
The purpose of screening is to assess the legislation of the candidate country and the degree of its compliance with the EU legislation, the procedure being conducted multilaterally and bilaterally. Screening is followed by the establishment of negotiating positions and the progress achieved, Grabar Kitarovic said. She added that after the closing of all 35 chapters an agreement on admission would be signed, followed by a referendum and ratification of the agreement.
"The process is challenging, it will require funding, but Croatia can count on support from pre-accession funds," the minister said, adding that a communication strategy had to be drawn up to acquaint citizens in the best possible way with the process of admission.
The minister said Croatia would receive a so-called progress report in November, which she said referred to the level of the country's readiness for membership. The report will be an overview of the current situation in Croatia and I can't say that it would be either positive or negative, Grabar Kitarovic said answering a reporter's question.
Asked about making the signing of statements on the opening of a ferry line linking the Croatian and Serbian-Montenegrin banks of the Danube River conditional on an apology by a Serbia and Montenegro Deputy Prime Minister, which has been demanded, among others, by the HDZ branch from Vukovar, the minister said that the primary concern was the well-being of the local community and the economic development of that area, to be brought about by a project financed by the Dutch government.
The minister disagreed with a reporter's claim about the deterioration of Croatia-USA relations in light of the cancellation of a visit by a US Congress delegation to Croatia. The relations are good and a number of other activities is being planned, she said.
Asked whether this was due to the fact that Croatian soldiers are not in Iraq, Grabar Kitarovic said Croatia was contributing in various ways to the stabilisation of the situation in Iraq and participating in numerous other peace operations.
Asked if it was possible for Italy and Slovenia to slow down Croatia's accession to the EU over some outstanding issues, the minister said she was confident that outstanding issues would be solved bilaterally.