EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ADOPTS GUIDELINES FOR SALONIKA SUMMIT

ZAGREB/STRASBOURG, June 5 (Hina) - The European Parliament at Thursday's regular sitting in Strasbourg adopted a joint stand on the EU's enlargement which will be forwarded to the EU Summit in Salonika, the Croatian Mission at the EU in Brussels, reported today. #L# According to diplomatic sources, the document includes two strategic messages. The European Parliament wishes to contribute to the summit with this document. It has been announced that the European parliament's head, Pat Cox, would take part in the summit. The first message forwarded to the summit is to continue strengthening the Stabilisation and Association process (SAp) and mechanisms which will facilitate joining of each country as soon as it meets the necessary conditions, while the other stresses a number of concrete possibilities of inter-parliamentary cooperation and its contribution to the process. The SAp is treated as a process which prepares countries for access to the EU. The document stresses that integration into the EU is possible only after all political and economic conditions are met, especially conditions regarding the strengthening of regional and trans-border cooperation. The parliament also stresses the importance of individual approach and the necessity of drawing up precise annual plans for each country on its path of drawing closer to the EU. The document hails the Croatian application for membership in the EU and stresses that this is an important step forward and a affirmation of the efficiency of the SAp. It also expresses hope that Croatia will take concrete steps to meet Copenhagen criteria and continue cooperating with the U.N. war crimes tribunal at The Hague (ICTY). The document also urges parliaments of EU member countries to ratify Stabilisation and Association Agreements where they have not done so. (hina) lml sb