STRASBOURG, April 20 (Hina) - The European Commission is due to issue an opinion about Croatia's application for membership of the European Union later on Tuesday after a session in Strasbourg.
STRASBOURG, April 20 (Hina) - The European Commission is due to issue
an opinion about Croatia's application for membership of the European
Union later on Tuesday after a session in Strasbourg.#L#
The session starts at 1pm and lasts until 6pm, when the opinion, the
so-called avis, will be made public. Apart from the Croatian
application, three more topics will be on the agenda.
Commissioners for External Relations and Enlargement Chris Patten and
Guenter Verheugen will present the avis to Croatian Foreign Minister
Miomir Zuzul and European Integration Minister Kolinda Grabar
Kitarovic, who have arrived in Strasbourg.
At the same time, the head of the European Commission Delegation to
Croatia, Jacques Wunenburger, will present the avis to Croatian Prime
Minister Ivo Sanader in Zagreb.
The European Commission will forward its opinion to the European
Council, which in turn will make a final decision on candidate status
and the start of entry talks. The next meeting of the European Council
is scheduled for June 17-18 in Brussels.
The leaders of EU member states, whose number will increase from the
present 15 to 25 on May 1, will decide on Croatia's status as
candidate by consensus.
Simultaneously with the avis, the Commission will also release a
proposal for a European partnership with Croatia as part of the
implementation of a decision reached at the Thessaloniki summit that
all countries covered by the stabilisation and association process
should be offered a European partnership on the model of an accession
partnership offered to candidate countries.
Within the scope of the European partnership, each of the five
Southeastern European countries included in the stabilisation and
association process will be invited to draw up a national action plan
with steps it intends to take in order to achieve the priorities
defined in the partnership agreement.
The European partnership also envisages financial aid from the
European Union in achieving the priority goals.
(Hina) vm