ZAGREB/BRUSSELS, Feb 19 (Hina) - The European Union membership application represents a challenge for Croatia which it is willing to respond to, according to European Parliament draft recommendations which its Foreign Affairs
Committee debated in Brussels on Thursday.
ZAGREB/BRUSSELS, Feb 19 (Hina) - The European Union membership
application represents a challenge for Croatia which it is willing to
respond to, according to European Parliament draft recommendations
which its Foreign Affairs Committee debated in Brussels on Thursday.#L#
The Committee today considered a report on the progress of 10
countries due to join the EU, discussed Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey,
and the Parliament's draft recommendations to the Council of the EU on
Croatia's membership application.
The Committee defined the final draft report on the 10 countries due
to join the Union on which the Parliament will vote next month. The
recommendations for Croatia were considered in the first of two
readings.
The European Parliament might consider the final draft recommendations
for Croatia at a plenary session in late March or early April.
The draft recommendations were made by the rapporteur for Croatia, the
Socialist representative from Greece Alexandros Baltas, who said
Croatia had launched economic and political reforms in recent years
with a view to upgrading democracy and bringing the economy up to
date. According to Baltas, much has been achieved but much more needs
to be done and Croatia must be determined in continuing with reforms.
Significant headway has been made in adjusting Croatian legislation to
that of the EU in several areas, according to the draft
recommendations, which add that it is necessary to ensure the
efficient application of laws.
Croatia could become the generator of progress in the Balkan region,
Baltas said, adding that the country's economic success and headway in
the establishment of democracy had been noted in neighbouring
countries which aspire to join the EU. Croatia's success could serve
as a model and incentive for those countries, he said.
There are many challenges before Croatia, of which the most important
are the return of refugees, cooperation with the war crimes tribunal
in the Hague, and the expansion of jurisdiction in the Adriatic Sea,
said Baltas.
The draft report on Slovenia's readiness for joining the EU calls on
all interested parties in the Adriatic Sea to find a solution
acceptable for all.
The Foreign Affairs Committee today adopted an amendment moved by
Demetrio Volcic, an Italian deputy of Slovene nationality, under which
one of the main issues in relations with Croatia is its unilateral
declaration of an ecological zone in the Adriatic, which is contrary
to European Commission positions.
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