Speaking at the opening of a two-day international conference entitled "How to Succeed in the EU?" at the Zagreb Faculty of Economics, Degert said that Croatia had achieved a lot since it started its EU entry talks in October 2005, and that if it wanted to succeed in the EU, it had to prepare well.
Croatia must complete the EU membership talks, implement structural reforms in the economy, which primarily refers to the restructuring of the shipbuilding sector, it must reform its state administration and judiciary, intensify the fight against corruption and organised crime, maintain good relations with its neighbours, and reconcile with the past and turn to the future, Degert said.
The EC official warned about two political obstacles on Croatia's path to EU membership - Slovenia's blockade of its EU membership talks over a border dispute, and cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
Even though border demarcation is a bilateral issue, Slovenia, as any other EU country, can block the talks if it believes that its "vital interests" are threatened, Degert said, adding that the blockade of Croatia's EU entry talks was in nobody's interest and that the European Commission was working on finding a solution.
Slovenia has blocked 12 chapters in Croatia's EU entry talks, claiming that in documents submitted in the course of its EU accession talks it has prejudged the outcome of the border dispute.
Croatia should not grow weary because of Slovenia's blockade, Degert said, adding that until the problem was solved, the country should work on a number of legal and technical issues in order to complete the negotiations by the end of 2009, in line with the EC's indicative road map.
Speaking of the EU membership talks, Degert said that Croatia had made very good progress on all fronts.
Of a total of 33 chapters that are being negotiated, seven have been closed and another 15 will be closed when Croatia meets the necessary criteria, he said.
If the country completes its EU entry talks by the end of 2009, the accession itself could be expected in 2011 or 2012, after the process of ratification of the accession treaty is completed, Degert said, adding that being well prepared for EU membership was much more important than the date of accession.
Croatia's chief negotiator in the talks with the EU, Vladimir Drobnjak, said that the most important challenge for Croatia at the moment was how to join the European Union.
Those who join the EU will succeed. All those who are in the EU have already succeeded, to a greater or smaller extent, said Drobnjak.
Speaking of Slovenia's blockade, Drobnjak said that statistics regarding Croatia's EU membership talks did not reflect the country's actual progress.
So far, Croatia has opened 22 chapters and provisionally closed seven.
Nine chapters are ready for opening and three for closing. One more chapter will soon be ready for closing (Statistics), after the fulfilment of additional criteria is verified, Drobnjak said, adding that additional criteria (benchmarks) for the opening of the chapter on judiciary and fundamental rights had been met as well.
Drobnjak said that Croatia's talks on EU membership were taking longer than those of countries from the previous enlargement round because in the meantime the EU had introduced different negotiation methods, demanding full compliance with the membership criteria.
"Croatia cannot join the EU unprepared. The new negotiating methods, namely benchmarks for the opening and closing of chapters, guarantee that it will be completely prepared," Drobnjak said.
"EU membership is not only an economic or a legal category, it also means equality in the adoption of decisions... an equal place in Europe's security, political and economic architecture, and that is what is most important for Croatia."
The conference "How to Succeed in the EU?" was organised by the Zagreb Faculty of Economics, the European Training Institute, and the consulting firm CBBS from Zagreb.
The event is being held under the auspices of the Croatian government.