CROATIA INITIALS INTERIM AGREEMENT WITH EUROPEAN COMMISSION

BRUSSELS/ZAGREB, July 10 (Hina) - Croatia and the European Commission in Brussels on Tuesday initialled an Interim Agreement which puts into force trade and trade-related provisions of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) between the European Communities and the Republic of Croatia, the European Commission said in a statement. After its initialling today, the Interim Agreement is expected to be formally concluded early in autumn, after the signing of the SAA and to enter into force at the latest by the beginning of 2002, the statement read. The agreement will cover the provisions of the SAA related to the establishment of a free-trade area for goods between the European Commission and Croatia, as well as provisions on competition, intellectual property, economic cooperation and road transit traffic. "The Interim Agreement will mark the beginning of the implementation of those important obligations which Croatia undertook in the SAA and which will help preparing the country for its gradual integration into the European structures," the European Commission said in the statement. The SAA is the new generation of association agreements which the European Union intended for five southeastern European countries - Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Macedonia and Albania. Macedonia was the first country in the region to sign the SAA. (hina) it