SLOVENE, CROATIAN PARLIAMENTARY OFFICIALS ON EU ENLARGEMENT

ZAGREB, May 24 (Hina) - The conclusions adopted at a European Union summit in Nice confirm the historic importance of EU expansion, and for Croatia and Slovenia it is important that the summit adopted the principle of differentiation for the access of candidate countries, Croatian and Slovene parliamentary officials said in a joint statement. The statement was signed by delegations of the two parliament's committees on European integration. The Croatian delegation was headed by committee chairman Mate Granic and the Slovene by the chairman of the parliamentary commission for European affairs, Alojz Peterle. The delegations held talks in Ljubljana, discussing the two countries' access to the EU following the Nice summit. The joint statement welcomes "the adoption of the individual approach principle in the Stabilisation and Association Process, as well as the idea of strengthening the role of national parliaments in EU working bodies." The two delegations "think it is very important that both states, in the spirit of good neighbourly relations, find solutions to open issues, taking European values and obligations into account." (hina) ha sb