"We now have the consent of the politicians, but the people are still in a dilemma," Tomcic said in his opening remarks at the seminar in Nasice, about 200 kilometres east of Zagreb, which was organised by the Croatian Peasant Federation.
Tomcic stressed that it was the Croatian people who must decide on whether the country should enter the EU or not. He said that only a year ago public support for EU entry was 82 per cent and that now it stood at 50 per cent, which he said was worrying.
"That is why national consensus is necessary. Citizens should be informed every day so that they know what awaits them," he said.
Tomcic criticised the government for signing Protocol 7, saying that Croatia has to abide by the document although it has not yet gone into force. "The proof of this is the fact that Croatia imported 10 billion kuna in food, the largest amount since it gained independence."