PARLIAMENT COMMITTEE TACKLES REPORT ON EU ASSOCIATION

ZAGREB, Sept 17 (Hina) - Croatian European Integration Minister Neven Mimica on Tuesday submitted to parliament's Committee on European Integration a half-yearly report on the realisation of plans to implement a Stabilisation and Association Agreement between Croatia and the EU and its members. #L# Mimica told the committee that Croatia had made the most progress in the process of implementing the Agreement in relation to other countries involved in that process - Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Yugoslavia, and Macedonia. According to Mimica, Croatia is not falling behind in executing any one deadline of the Agreement. The government, in its ambitiousness, set even stricter deadlines. As he said, Croatia has not realised only one third of the measures it was required to before the year's end. He expressed hope that this would be achieved nevertheless. Croatia's duty in the next six months is to ensure the respect of human rights, particularly minorities, and in that regard it is required to adopt a law on minorities, to realise property restitution, reforms in the judiciary, to adopt a law on regulations governing Croatian Radio and Television, to continue co-operation with the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, and to co-operate with neighbouring countries. Minister Mimica also expressed hope that Croatia would early next year be able to submit a request for full membership to the EU. Evaluating the report as a good one, the chairman of the parliamentary committee, Mate Granic, nevertheless requested that concrete problems be itemised with regard to regional co-operation because this could very much interest the EU. (hina) sp/ha sb