ZAGREB, July 14 (Hina) - Answers to queries from the European Commission (EC) questionnaire have to paint a picture of Croatia that is based on facts "because we don't want to embellish things and give a rosy picture," Neven Mimica,
the minister for European integration, said on Monday.
ZAGREB, July 14 (Hina) - Answers to queries from the European
Commission (EC) questionnaire have to paint a picture of Croatia
that is based on facts "because we don't want to embellish things
and give a rosy picture," Neven Mimica, the minister for European
integration, said on Monday. #L#
He spoke to reporters presenting the questionnaire EC president
Romano Prodi handed Prime Minister Ivica Racan last week.
Based on the answers, as well as on other sources, the EC will make
an opinion of Croatia's application for European Union membership.
The opinion is delivered to the Council of Ministers, which makes
the final decision. Croatia has three months to answer the
questionnaire.
"The European Commission can get 90 percent of the answers even
without us. It is evident that those who have made the questions
know the answers and our answers certainly won't be the only ones
based on which the opinion of Croatia's application will be made,"
said Mimica.
The questionnaire has a total of 4,560 queries, of which 2,600 are
main questions. It is divided into three sections -- political
criteria, economic criteria, and the adjustment of domestic
legislation to EU norms, the acquis communautaire.
The bulk of the queries refers to the economy. The finance ministry
has to answer 400, the ministry of maritime affairs, transport and
communications 664, the labour and social welfare ministry 415, and
the justice and interior ministries 224 queries.
Of the 4,560 questions, 1,181 refer to statistics.
In replies to the political questions the government will have to
take standpoints as to future measures, said Mimica. "This area
contains the three basic prerequisites we have to meet to obtain a
positive opinion and candidate status -- cooperation with the Hague
tribunal, refugee returns, and the reform of the judiciary."
The minister said that generally speaking, the questionnaire
contained no surprises but that he had been surprised by a question
about the case of the late general Janko Bobetko, who had been
indicted by the Hague war crimes tribunal.
"What personally caught my eye the most was a question about the
delay in serving (Bobetko) with the indictment...I thought such
questions would no longer be asked, at least in the case of the late
Bobetko."
Mimica said the EC was also interested in what the government and
competent bodies intended to and could do in connection with the
case of Ante Gotovina, another general indicted by the U.N.
criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia who is at large, and if
new indictments were to arrive.
Assistant European Integration Minister Tamara Obradovic said all
state administration bodies working on the questionnaire had been
given between one and five weeks to provide answers. The rest of the
time given by the EC will be used to revise the answers and translate
them into English, she said.
(hina) ha