ZAGREB, March 24 (Hina) - The Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) has accused the government of acting unlawfully when it started negotiations with the European Union on quotas for the import of agricultural produce from the Union, which are
to go in force on 1 May when 10 new members enter the EU.
liti~ke stranke
ZAGREB, March 24 (Hina) - The Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) has accused
the government of acting unlawfully when it started negotiations with
the European Union on quotas for the import of agricultural produce
from the Union, which are to go in force on 1 May when 10 new members
enter the EU.#L#
HSS officials Bozidar Pankretic and Ivan Kolar told a news conference
on Wednesday that the law on the implementation of the Croatia-EU
Stabilisation and Association Agreement envisaged a platform for
negotiations on trading and other issues, which the Croatian
government should define and parliament confirm. They said that this
procedure was not respected.
Instead of asking the Sabor to endorse its negotiating platform, which
would have also reinforced Zagreb's position at the talks, the
government began negotiations in January, about which parliament
received only scant information, Pankretic said.
He added that in case Croatia accepted a significant increase in
import quotas on 1 May, which the EU insist on, it would no longer be
able to protect the national agricultural production.
Pankretic believes that a possible signing of the so-called Protocol
VII on the matter would mean the violation of laws for which the
government must answer.
(Hina) ms