Discussing the division of Croatia into three statistical regions (Adriatic, Pannonian and Northwestern Croatia, which also includes Zagreb), as accepted by European institutions, the committee concluded that Croatia should try to secure a fourth one if the 2011 census established that Zagreb has more than 800,000 inhabitants, a condition a statistical region in the EU must meet.
According to the State Bureau of Statistics, Zagreb did not have 800,000 inhabitants in the 2001 census. Therefore it was included in Northwestern Croatia, but the counties in this region fear that due to the capital's development, this statistical region could soon reach 75% of the EU's GDP and thus lose the right to money from European funds.
The division into regions is necessary for Croatia to qualify for money from EU funds upon joining the Union.
At Friday's session, the national committee also adopted Croatia's negotiating positions for the policy chapters Transport Policy and Trans-European Networks, and considered reports on the screening of the policy chapters Energy and Regional Policy and the Co-ordination of Structural Instruments, said Bebic.
He recalled that Croatia had submitted to the EU negotiating positions on 14 chapters, that two positions were being prepared, and that another two to three were expected to be defined during Portugal's EU presidency in the second half of the year.
Croatia has provisionally closed negotiations on two chapters, opened them on four and expects to open a few more later this month.