CROATIA: Croatian Chief EU Negotiator aims to speed up membership process

Croatia aims to move faster in EU membership talks and thinks stricter control from Brussels will only help the process along. Croatia hopes to shift its European Union membership talks into higher gear this year and thinks that stricter control from Brussels will only help the process along, the country's chief negotiator told Reuters Television in an interview. Vladimir Drobnjak, a career diplomat overseeing the talks, said the country was hoping to open as many negotiating chapters as possible in 2007 and close them in 2008. "This year, 2007, is the year for opening negotiating chapters -- and we aim to open as as many chapters as possible, as well as present as many negotiating positions as possible. We aim to fulfil benchmarks in those chapters in which they have been required. Year 2008, we hope will be the year of closing of the chapters. So, this year we are focused on fulfilling the benchmarks required for drawing up our negotiation positions and opening of the chapters," he said. Croatia started EU membership talks in October 2005, at the same time with Turkey. Both made relatively slow progress in 2006, with Zagreb closing two of 35 policy chapters. It moved ahead of Turkey in December, after Brussels partially froze talks with Ankara over its refusal to fully normalise trade with EU member Cyprus. "So far Croatia has submitted 10 negotiating positions and the 11th one is under way. The EU has so far required 15 negotiating positions from us. At the moment we are simultaneously working on seven which are in various stages of completion," Drobnjak said. He said the body of EU legislation that Croatia must implement was ever growing and there are more member states than before, making the talks more complex than during the big-bang eastward enlargement that took in 10 countries in 2005. But he said benchmarks -- concrete conditions for opening and closing chapters, which Brussels introduced after concluding accession talks with Bulgaria and Romania can only help. "Benchmarks-- conditions for opening and closing chapters --are a new interment, but their methodology and philosophy is not new, what is new is that they are now an institutional and formatted part of the process. We primarily see them as instruments which help us to fulfil all conditions required for the opening and closing of chapters. Their aim is to ensure implementation of reforms, strategies and action plans, strengthening of administrative capability and good dynamics in legislation. I see them as mile-stones on our way in fulfilling of the requirements," he said. Croatia is expecting the European Commission to set benchmarks for roughly one-third of the 33 policy chapters.

ITN Source | March 6, 2007

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