EU waarschuwt Kroatië in aanloop naar volgende deadline van de toetredingprocedure (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The EU commission on Wednesday (2 March) called on the Croatian government to "redouble" its efforts on justice reforms, war crime prosecution and the fight against graft if it wants to meet a June target date for completing entry negotiations.
Referring to a "to do list" in one of the most difficult negotiation areas - judiciary and fundamental rights - the "interim report" calls for "convincing" high level corruption cases, the tackling of war crimes impunity and settling outstanding refugee return issues.
"The commission continues to support Croatia on the last stretch of its path towards EU membership and is ready to propose the closing of negotiations as soon as Croatia has met all remaining requirements identified in today's report," enlargement commissioner Stefan Füle i said in a press statement.
"I am hopeful that this report will help the Croatian government and Croatian society as a whole to redouble their efforts in this crucial area," he added.
Despite the fact that most of the requirements would require longer than four months to be completed, EU officials dismissed the idea of a post-accession monitoring mechanism as was put in place for Romania and Bulgaria, joining in 2007.
"Our position is clear: no monitoring mechanism," said one EU source familiar with the dossier, while emphasizing that "things have changed" since Romania and Bulgaria were negotiating, such as Wednesday's report which sets targets to be met before the accession talks can be closed.
The "to-do list" is as much a warning shot for Zagreb as a signal to enlargement-wary member states like the Netherlands that the EU commission is taking its role seriously.
"This thorough report by the EC marks progress but also underlines significant shortcomings. Fundamental rights and the judiciary are the bedrock of the EU," Dutch foreign minister Uri Rosenthal i told EUobserver.
"We encourage Croatia to take the next important steps in order to fulfil the set benchmarks. Regarding the entry of any country to the EU, we follow the mantra "strict and fair"," he added.
On the Croatian side, chief negotiator Vladimir Drobnjak called the report "good and beneficial," adding that "the very high grades that we have been given" left open the possibility of concluding accession negotiations in June.
A Croatian diplomatic source said that Croatia was pleased that the Commission had released its report one week earlier than expected because it gave Zagreb "additional time" to meet the remaining requirements.
Meanwhile, a report by local NGOs in Croatia, including Transparency International, the anti-corruption watchdog, also said the June target was feasible, but pointed to serious problems in the way justice reform was carried out.
"While there has been visible progress in the number of high profile cases of corruption under investigation, the selectiveness of investigative and prosecutorial proceedings is equally visible, as well as chronic lack of valid convictions and seizures of illegally obtained property," the report reads
The NGOs highlight the "clientelism" in a law on golf courses adopted in 2009, which "derogates proprietary rights, favours exclusively one type of investment and stimulates corruption in the scope of spatial planning at local government levels."