The Commission has not rejected the document because it has not been officially submitted to the Commission in the first place, he said when asked to comment on a Croatian newspaper's allegation that the Commission had rejected a rural development programme which the Croatian Agriculture Ministry had submitted to Brussels.
Waite said it was usual practice for the member countries to send drafts of such strategic documents to the Commission, which then gave its opinion and recommended possible changes.
Croatia is preparing a seven-year programme for the first time, which is why more consultations between Zagreb and Brussels will perhaps be necessary, but this is absolutely normal procedure for every member state and at this stage no document has been rejected, he said.
The Agriculture Ministry too has refuted Poslovni Dnevnik's allegations that Brussels has rejected Croatia's rural development programme.