CRO. EUROPEAN INTEGRATION MIN. TALKS TO COUNTY COUNCILS' MEMBERS

ZAGREB, March 1 (Hina) - Big ideas about united Europe will become reality only if they are implemented at the level of regions and supported by citizens as end users and owners of the process of European integration, Croatian European Integration Minister Neven Mimica said in Zagreb on Friday. Speaking at a press conference during a break in a meeting with representatives of county councils for European integration, Mimica said the councils were "the right place for spreading the idea of European integration and the process itself". The establishment of county councils began in 2000. Today councils are active in Zagreb and 19 counties, with the exception of Zadar County. Once they are institutionally rounded off and staffed, the councils should represent "info-points, which will distribute information on the European Union and Croatia's rapprochement with the EU in a modern and competent manner," Mimica said. The councils should design projects of regional cross-border cooperation, and the ministry will be helping them by providing information on programmes and the easiest ways to realise cooperation, said Mimica. "Even though we can generally be satisfied with activities at the county level, there are problems in the uneven performance of individual councils, which is to be corrected by a more selective allocation of funds, to favour more active county councils," Mimica said. Asked to assess the activity of individual counties, Mimica said the most active ones were Istria, Rijeka, Osijek and Dubrovnik counties, while Zadar County is the only county without a council for European integration. Mimica expressed hope that the European integration process would gain such momentum so that the county itself and its citizens would request the establishment of a council for European integration. (hina) np sb