The spokeswoman for the Enlargement Commissioner, Krisztina Nagy, said on Monday that she could confirm that Rehn had received Fini's letter and that he was going to study the information from the letter so as to be able to respond as soon as possible.
Nagy quoted a part of Article 60 from the Croatian-EU Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) as saying that with the enforcement of this agreement, Croatia will make it possible for EU citizens to acquire real estate through full and purposeful application of the existing procedures.
She added that the existing procedures "are based on reciprocity".
Nagy also said that the European Commission would continue insisting on the acceleration of procedures and steps which should decrease the backlog of cases in granting the requests.
The SAA came into force on 1 February 2005.
Fini wrote in his letter that unlike other EU citizens who had free access to the Croatian real estate market, Italian citizens were denied this right if they did not have permanent residence in Croatia.
The Croatian Foreign Affairs and European Integration Ministry issued a statement on Sunday in connection with Fini's letter, saying that it would take a position on the letter as soon as it became acquainted with its entire content.
The statement recalled that the SAA binds Croatia to effectively and purposefully apply Croatian legislation in connection with access to the Croatian real estate market for EU member states' citizens.
In accordance with the SAA, Croatia approaches every foreign citizen equally, applying without discrimination the principle of reciprocity envisaged by Croatian laws, the ministry said.
Italian citizens have been entitled to access the Croatian real estate market under certain conditions for years and without complaints from the Italian side, the ministry said, adding that now, on the Italian side's proposal, reciprocity was being checked by examining Italian legislation and practice.