I wish to make it clear that the proposal will not slow down the membership talks with Croatia or any other country. Regional cooperation is one of the criteria for progress towards membership, and Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has proposed that this should be done by expanding the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA). It is an option and I can tell you we are giving it a serious consideration, Rehn said before the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee.
Rehn was responding to objections raised by some deputies that account should have been taken of the political sensitivity of the proposal.
A unique set of rules, a unique regional free trade agreement combined with diagonal cumulation of origin of goods will certainly make the region more attractive to foreign and domestic investors, he said.
Rehn informed the Committee of his visit to the region last week together with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
Our message to the region was -- we want to provide encouragement and assure you of medium- or long-term prospects for membership, Rehn said, adding that there still was or used to be a lot of scepticism in the Western Balkan countries about the credibility of their prospects for EU membership.