CROATIA MUST ADJUST TO EUROPEAN UNION RULES - SAYS VINTHER

ZAGREB, Feb 23 (Hina) - European Commission special envoy to Croatia Per Vinther on Tuesday said Croatia must make maximum effort to adjust its legislation to European Union (EU) regulations if it wants to become part of European trends. Vinther addressed Croatian government administration officials with a lecture on the history of the creation of the EU, its institutions, decision-making process, and its goals. The lecture was part of a series organised by the Croatian government's Office for European Integration. Despite being excluded from the group of countries politically and economically assessed as the most ready to access the EU, Vinther said Croatia must adjust its legislation to the one valid in the EU in order to avoid isolation from EU trends. Vinther said countries like Island and Norway were doing the same, despite the possibility of never accessing the EU. In the contrary, conducting business with the EU will become very complex, he warned. Attending Croatian government administration officials requested Vinther to elaborate on EU's policy in fields such as education, security, and migrations. Also tackled were the specifics of Croatian-EU relations. Some officials remarked Croatia was still denied technical conveniences such as the PHARE programme, which they said would facilitate and expedite adjustment to the EU, while simultaneously being criticised for slowness in the adjustment process. Vinther responded by saying the access obstacles were more of political nature. He said Croatia seemed to have difficulties in finding the right key to open the EU doors. (hina) ha jn