EU TO GIVE EUR 3 MILLION FOR REORGANISATION OF STATE ADMINISTRATION IN CROATIA

ZAGREB, Oct 24 (Hina) - Croatia's European Integration Minister Ivan Jakovcic and European Commission's envoy to Croatia, Per Vinther, on Tuesday signed a memorandum on EU's technical assistance for the reorganisation of Croatia's bodies of state administration worth three million euros. "This is the beginning of EU's technical assistance to the bodies of the Croatian state administration the purpose of which is their restructuring and adjustment to European standards," Jakovcic told a news conference. The assistance, which is connected to the process of stabilisation and association, is intended for eight projects. The implementation of six projects will start as early as this November and the implementation of the other two will start in March 2001. The beneficiaries are six ministries and the State Institute for Statistics. Vinther said the start of the implementation of the technical assistance package confirmed that after it had demonstrated political readiness, the EU was starting to give concrete help to Croatia in its efforts to draw closer to the association. The feedback which we will receive about these projects will help us design similar projects in the future, Vinther said. EC sources said the signing of the memorandum will free the EU from paying taxes on financial assistance. In 2000 the EC has secured 18.54 million euros of assistance for Croatia. Of that amount, 10 million euros will be spent for a programme of reconstruction and return, 2.34 million will be used for the development of small and medium-sized businesses in under- developed regions, 1.5 million will be invested in the programme TEMPUS, and 200,000 euros will be used as support for the independent media. Apart from the three million euros for state administration, there remains 1.5 million euros, which will be used for technical and administrative assistance to the EC Delegation in Zagreb. (hina) rml