Brussels, 22/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - The EU and Croatia closed three more chapters - environment, justice/liberty/security, and Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) - in its accession negotiations at a ministerial conference on Brussels on Wednesday 22 December. In all, Croatia has now closed 28 of the 35 chapters to be negotiated. 2010 has been a particularly fruitful year, with 11 chapters having been closed and six opened, Croatian Foreign Minister Gordon Jandrokovic told press. “The end of negotiations is now within reach,” according to Belgian Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere, who chaired the meeting. A few particularly difficult chapters remain to be negotiated, including “trade policy” (where restructuring the naval construction sector is problematic) and “judiciary and fundamental rights” where no fewer than 22 closing benchmarks have to be met before talks can be closed. Among these criteria are full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and tackling corruption, Vanackere and Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Füle stated. That the Croatian authorities have begun legal action at the highest level, including against former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, proves that it is serious on the rule of law, Jandrokovic said.
Accession by mid-2013, or earlier? The Croatian government aims to have completed negotiations by June 2011, under Hungarian presidency, and to join the EU on 1 January 2013. This timetable was put into doubt by Commissioner Füle on Wednesday. Without giving a date for accession, he told press on Wednesday that the process for the ratification of Croatia's treaty of accession would probably take more or less 18 months. This process will not be begun until autumn 2011. Following finalisation of accession negotiations, expected by June 2011, “a couple of months” will be need to prepare the text of the treaty of accession which will then have to be put to a referendum in Croatia in autumn 2011. Only then can ratification of the act of accession begin in the European Parliament and in the 27 member states. Füle also said on Wednesday that, on its accession, Croatia must be “100% ready”, that is to say, it must meet all the accession criteria. There is no question, therefore, of again using monitoring mechanisms, as happened when Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU.
Turkey. Under Belgian Presidency, no chapters have been opened or closed in negotiations with Turkey. So far, Turkey has opened only 13 of the 35 chapters, with one single chapter being provisionally closed. Talks on opening the “competition” chapter have made progress, but have not permitted an accession conference to be convened on 22 December. On 21 December, permanent President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy had some very encouraging words for Ankara. In a speech delivered in Budapest, he said that “there is a chance we can make more progress (in accession talks) next year”. Turkish reform efforts to adhere to EU standards have delivered impressive results, Van Rompuy said. (H.B./transl.rt)