BRUSSELS, Oct 9 (Hina) - Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan presented European Commission President Romano Prodi with Croatia's answers to the EC questionnaire in Brussels on Thursday.
BRUSSELS, Oct 9 (Hina) - Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan
presented European Commission President Romano Prodi with
Croatia's answers to the EC questionnaire in Brussels on Thursday.
#L#
The answers, whose preparation involved all bodies of the state
administration, are written on 3,000 pages and 4,000 pages of
supplements.
The answers provide a detailed overview of all aspects of work and
life in Croatia, its state structures, basic development policies
and the current degree of adjustment to EU standards and criteria.
Based on the answers, as well as on other sources, the EC will define
its opinion of Croatia's candidacy for EU membership, which should
happen by April next year.
Addressing a joint news conference after he was presented with the
answers, Prodi said that the job of answering the questionnaire had
been done with unbelievable responsibility and commitment and he
hoped the two sides would start analysing the answers together very
soon.
Prodi said it was his objective to have the EC adopt an opinion of
the answers by the end of March or beginning of April next year,
after which EU member-countries would make a decision on Croatia's
candidacy.
The EC president handed to Prime Minister Racan the questionnaire,
which contained 4,560 queries, on July 10. October 15 was set as
deadline for answering them.
The EC president said that his term expired in a year's time and he
wanted to leave his office knowing that Croatia was definitely on
the path towards EU membership.
Prodi and Racan today also discussed the main condition for a
positive opinion on Croatia's candidacy - cooperation with the UN
war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
Asked how the non-extradition of runaway general Ante Gotovina
could influence the EC's opinion, Prodi said the problem was not if
Gotovina was arrested or not, but whether there was full
cooperation with the tribunal. That is what the EC wants and what it
has to be convinced about, Prodi said, adding that the tribunal's
chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte's opinion would be of great
importance for the EC.
Racan said that the Croatian government had been committed to
cooperation and would continue to be, but "we expect not to be
criticised without arguments, namely to be criticised for
something we want, but are unable to carry out".
Prodi said that another topic of his talks with Racan was the
Croatian parliament's decision to proclaim a fishing and
ecological zone in the Adriatic. He expressed regret at what he
called a unilateral decision of the parliament. Such unilateral
decisions always cause problems, the EC president said, urging
Croatia to start dialogue with neighbouring countries as soon as
possible.
Racan said that the decision did not pose an obstacle to talks on
wider cooperation in the protection of the Adriatic. "We are not
obstructing a wider cooperation in the protection of the Adriatic
and Mediterranean. The decision will be put on hold for one year, so
we have time to discuss with our neighbours ways to implement it and
protect the Adriatic even better," he said.
"Croatia is situated on the Adriatic Sea and to a large extent
depends on it, so our wish to protect our coast and thousand islands
from devastation is only logical," Racan said.
The European commissioner for EU enlargement, Guenter Verheugen,
said in an interview with Thursday's issue of The Financial Times
that the EU could make a decision to start talks with Croatia on its
membership application in June next year on condition Croatia
improved its cooperation with the UN tribunal and stepped up the
return of refugees.
(hina) rml