The chief of the Commission's delegation in Croatia was presenting with Prime Minister Ivo Sanader a pre-accession strategy document in which the EU traces Croatia's path of becoming a member. The document was released by the Commission in Brussels earlier today.
Speaking of the safeguard clause, Wunenburger said its essence was not really new. What is new is the fact that it was put on paper, he added.
Negotiations would be suspended in case of serious and persistent breaching of the principles of freedom, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and laws on which the EU is founded.
Wunenburger said the safeguard clause was not specifically reserved for Croatia but would be applied also to Turkey as well as to Bulgaria and Romania, countries expected to wrap up membership negotiations this year.
He added the inclusion of the clause in the pre-accession strategy was prompted by the experience gained as the European Constitution was being drafted.
The document presented today was drawn by the European Commission after Croatia became an EU candidate in June. It has to be evaluated by the Council of the European Union, which is due to convene in December.
The same procedure would be applied in case the Commission proposed to suspend the entry negotiations, which the Council of the European Union has to approve with a qualified majority of member countries.
The document consists of three elements -- political dialogue, pre-accession instruments, and screening.
The focus in political dialogue will be that Croatia meet its commitments in terms of cooperation with the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, refugee return, respect for minorities' rights, judicial reform, and combating corruption.
The pre-accession instruments are the EU's pre-accession funds in the total amount of EUR245 million which may be drawn through the PHARE, ISPA and SAPARD programmes.
Screening will be carried out through the Commission's regular annual reports. The criteria that will be applied to Croatia are identical to those for previous candidates, namely the Copenhagen Criteria and the "regatta" principle, which means the candidate country will be evaluated by individual accomplishments and not depending on other candidates.
Prime Minister Sanader said "today's decisions by the European Commission are another significant step in the process of Croatia's drawing closer to the European Union". He added the government was pleased with the "expected" decisions.
Asked when Croatia would begin entry negotiations, both Sanader and Wunenburger said the exact date had not been set, and that the expression "early 2005" meant the first months of the year and not the last.
Asked if he expected Great Britain to be the hardest nut to crack since its media, like the Financial Times for example, estimate that Croatia might join the Union in 2011, Sanader said one should distinguish the position of the British government and that of the media.
He said London was more sensitive to the issue of Zagreb's full cooperation with the Hague tribunal, but added it was a commitment Croatia must honour.
Attending the presentation of the pre-accession strategy were also Foreign Minister Miomir Zuzul and the state secretary at the European Integration Ministry, Marija Pejcinovic-Buric.