EP-lid: "Kroatië riskeert vertraging bij lidmaatschap EU" (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Croatia needs to speed up the pace of its reforms or it risks becoming a full EU member only after 2011, the MEP in charge of the dossier has warned.
In his last report, Austrian Socialist MEP Hannes Swoboda set 2009 as a target date for finalising EU negotiations with Zagreb and 2011 as the year when Croatia could become a full EU member.
But while "six months ago, this was very likely to happen," today, the probability of Croatia respecting this time-frame is only "20 to 30 percent", Mr Swoboda told EUobserver.
The country still has a chance of finalising its accession negotiations early next year. Then around one and a half years would be needed for ratification of the accession document by member states for it to join the bloc in 2011.
If accession negotiations are not closed by earlier next year however, the whole process may be slowed down due to the 2009 European elections and to the appointment of a new commission college in the autumn of 2009.
According to Mr Swoboda, the country lost precious time due to the parliamentarian elections last November, which saw no clear winner.
Coalition talks have been going on since then and a new coalition government has only been agreed this week, making Ivo Sanader the first prime minister in the country's modern history to serve a second consecutive term in office.
The problematic sectors
During these almost two months of negotiating on a new government, reforms have slowed down, particularly affecting certain key areas.
Mr Swoboda cited the ship industry and the fight against corruption as two areas which need faster and further reforms.
The ship industry should be made more competitive and more compatible with EU norms and rules, the Socialist MEP said.
Corruption should also be better tackled, especially given the criticism expressed in the European Commission's annual progress report last November, the parliamentarian stressed.
The commission report criticised the fact that "corruption remains widespread" in Croatia and called for "greater efforts to prevent, detect and prosecute corruption."
Finally, the problem of the controversial Adriatic fishing zone needs to be tackled before EU talks with Zagreb go any further.
Croatia has proclaimed a protected fishing and ecological zone covering an area of some 57,000 square kilometres in the Adriatic Sea - although it has not yet been implemented.
It says it aims to protect Adriatic Sea fishing stocks, but the move is also seen as being linked to an ongoing dispute between Croatia and Slovenia over their common sea border.
If Croatia keeps that zone, and especially if it decides to implement it, it will lose even more precious time, Mr Swoboda warned, adding that Slovenia, which currently holds the EU presidency, would then not open the fisheries chapter of Croatia's EU negotiations package.
Earlier this week, both EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn and Slovenian foreign minister Dimitrij Rupel warned Croatia that if enforced in practice, the fishery zone would be "a major obstacle to Croatia's accession to the EU," AFP writes.
No repetition of mistakes
The MEP, who is about to start work on his next report on Croatia, said he will include his criticism in the document if the situation does not change.
He called for more EU pressure on Croatia, insisting that the bloc should not be as lenient as it was towards Bulgaria and Romania, so that Zagreb is fully ready when it enters the club.
"We let Bulgaria and Romania in, although there was still work to do," and the promised reforms slowed down as soon as the countries entered the EU, Mr Swoboda explained.
"This cannot happen with Croatia," he said.
However, the parliamentarian stressed he would not go as far as recommending a delay of Croatia's EU membership saying he just wants to send a "warning signal" to Zagreb.
Croatia started EU accession talks in October 2005 and has so far opened 16 out of its 35-chapter negotiations package.