ZAGREB, Dec 30 (Hina) - An interim agreement between Croatia and the European Union, which activates trade and traffic-related regulations of a Croatia-EU Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), takes effect on Tuesday, January
1, 2002. The SAA has been ratified by the Croatian and European Parliaments and before going into force it must be ratified by the parliaments of the EU member-states. As the ratification process could take up to two years, Croatia and the EU signed an Interim Agreement on trade and traffic-related segments of the SAA, which enables free trade between Croatia and the EU. This was possible due to the fact that trade-related issues, which constitute the so-called first pillar of the EU, unlike home affairs and justice and the common defence and security policy, are exclusively within the competence of the European Communities. The SAA, signed in Luxembourg on October 29, was rat
ZAGREB, Dec 30 (Hina) - An interim agreement between Croatia and the
European Union, which activates trade and traffic-related
regulations of a Croatia-EU Stabilisation and Association
Agreement (SAA), takes effect on Tuesday, January 1, 2002.
The SAA has been ratified by the Croatian and European Parliaments
and before going into force it must be ratified by the parliaments
of the EU member-states. As the ratification process could take up
to two years, Croatia and the EU signed an Interim Agreement on
trade and traffic-related segments of the SAA, which enables free
trade between Croatia and the EU.
This was possible due to the fact that trade-related issues, which
constitute the so-called first pillar of the EU, unlike home
affairs and justice and the common defence and security policy, are
exclusively within the competence of the European Communities.
The SAA, signed in Luxembourg on October 29, was ratified by the
Croatian parliament in early December and by the European
Parliament on December 12. The ratification procedure on the EU
level is a slightly more complicated process, which has not been
completed yet. However, the Interim Agreement includes a provision
saying the SAA goes into force on January 1, regardless of whether
the process of its ratification has been completed by that date.
For the SAA to be completely ratified, it must also be confirmed by
the EU Council of Ministers. This will be done probably at the
Council's first session in 2002, on January 28, so that the Interim
Agreement would formally go into force on March 1.
The Interim Agreement includes all provisions of the SAA regulating
free movement of goods. As regards the EU, the agreement will
formalise a preferential trade regime towards Croatia that has been
in force since the EU unilaterally adopted a decision on free trade
measures towards Croatia in December 2000. This means that the EU
market will be completely open to duty-free imports from Croatia,
including industrial products, textile, steel, and agricultural
products, except for beef, fish and wine, for which certain quotas
have been introduced.
Croatian negotiators were aware that the import quota for fish
products was objectively small and that longer negotiations could
have resulted in a more favourable deal for Croatia, but they claim
the time of the agreement signing was equally important since
compared to some other EU candidates, Croatia is lagging behind
almost four years with regard to the signing of an agreement on
associate membership.
Duty-free imports from the EU market will be introduced gradually
and depend on their type and sensitivity for the Croatian market,
until complete market liberalisation, which is to take place six
years after the SAA going into force, in late 2008.
Zero duty rates will be introduced immediately for products which
do not jeopardise the Croatian economy, such as cars.
European Commission officials claim the trade-related part of the
SAA with Croatia indubitably offers the most liberal regime a state
signing the SAA could have been granted.
The Interim Agreement also includes regulations related to
competition and state assistance, intellectual property, economic
cooperation, copyright, administrative customs cooperation and
traffic.
The implementation of the Interim Agreement will be supervised by a
so-called Interim Committee, which includes representatives of
both sides and which will make decisions on the basis of consensus.
The EC strongly believes that problems which occurred in Macedonia,
which signed the SAA earlier than Croatia, will not happen in
Croatia. Macedonia's Interim Agreement took effect on July 1, 2001,
and after two weeks problems cropped up because the country
continued collecting customs duties for some EU products.
The EU will carefully follow the implementation of the SAA,
including the Interim Agreement. The EU is expected to make public
its first report on the course of implementation of the SAA with
Croatia as early as this spring. The report will consist of four
parts: development of the political situation in the country,
economic indicators, the course of implementation of the SAA, and
financial assistance.
Current developments regarding the stabilisation and association
process show the EU has been consistent in respecting the principle
of individual approach towards all states included in the process.
Croatia and Macedonia have signed the SAA, but while Macedonia's
SAA is yet to be ratified by the European side, the ratification of
Croatia's agreement has been almost completed. The EU has not yet
started working on a feasibility study for Yugoslavia and is
expected to do it in spring 2002 at the earliest. As regards
Albania, talks on an SAA should start in March next year. Bosnia-
Herzegovina has not yet met conditions for the setting up of a
consultative task force in charge of drawing up a feasibility
study.
(hina) rml