ZAGREB, Sept 25 (Hina) - The Croatian working group monitoring the EU fishing policy will soon submit a report to the government that will contain an assessment of possible damage in case Croatia declares an economic zone in the
Adriatic, Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Simonovic announced on Thursday after informing the government of the results of a preparatory meeting in Brussels ahead of a ministerial conference in Venice.
ZAGREB, Sept 25 (Hina) - The Croatian working group monitoring the
EU fishing policy will soon submit a report to the government that
will contain an assessment of possible damage in case Croatia
declares an economic zone in the Adriatic, Deputy Foreign Minister
Ivan Simonovic announced on Thursday after informing the
government of the results of a preparatory meeting in Brussels
ahead of a ministerial conference in Venice. #L#
Simonovic did not specify when the report would be submitted, but
said that efforts would be made to compile it as soon as possible.
The report will analyse the situation and messages, including those
from the European Commission, and will present advantages and
disadvantages of expanding jurisdiction in the Adriatic, Simonovic
told reporters.
Prime Minister Ivica Racan has said that the parliament was
expected to discuss a government report on Croatia's plan to expand
its jurisdiction in the Adriatic before it is dissolved for
elections.
Simonovic said he did not agree with assessments that Croatia's
position regarding the matter was poor.
"There's no need to be so pessimistic. Croatia has a choice. It
won't be easy, but sovereign states make difficult choices in
difficult situations," the deputy foreign minister said.
He reiterated that the right of countries to declare an economic
zone was not questionable, but added that there would be less
possibility for expanding jurisdiction after the Venice conference
in late November.
"It has become evident that Venice won't bring any legal change
(...) but the tendency will be to narrow the space for expanding
jurisdiction in the Mediterranean," Simonovic said.
Simonovic said that the Croatian position was neither accepted nor
rejected in formal documents, but that the European Commission said
that Croatia should wait for the Venice conference and should reach
agreement on the matter with other countries.
He said that the solution advocated by Slovenia, that the Adriatic
should be declared a joint protected zone, did not exist in
international legal practice.
This cannot be acceptable to Croatia, because it would increase the
number of users of the zone, and Croatia would be confronted with a
fishing fleet ten times bigger than its own, Simonovic said.
Simonovic could not foresee possible political problems in the
event of Croatia proclaiming an economic zone without prior
agreement with its neighbours.
(hina) vm