Brussels, 21/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Council later this week (23-24 June) will give the go-ahead to the conclusion of accession negotiations with Croatia before the end of the month, according to a draft statement approved by the General Affairs Council in Luxembourg on Tuesday 21 June. According to this text, European leaders will call for accession negotiations to be concluded before the end of this month with a view to signing the treaty of accession by the end of the year. The last four outstanding chapters (judiciary and fundamental liberties, competition, budget and various) will, then, all be finalised at an accession conference to be held before the end of next week. The treaty of accession could be signed thereafter, during the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU and in all probability as early as this autumn. Ratification of this treaty by the parliaments of all 27 member states, the European Parliament and Croatia will, in all likelihood, take a year or a little longer, which suggests that the country could join the EU at the start or in the course of 2013. The European Commission has already recommended conclusion of accession talks (see EUROPE 10396). “Good news”, Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi told press after the General Affairs Council on Tuesday. “There is now a fair chance - even more than that - that accession negotiations will be concluded by midnight on 30 June. … The outstanding issues will now be discussed and resolved”, he announced. The member states' agreement also makes provision for a “monitoring mechanism” to be put in place by the EU throughout the pre-accession period. This will allow the Commission, which will draft six-monthly reports, to check that Zagreb is complying with its commitments on the adoption and implementation of the acquis communautaire until accession, particularly in sensitive areas such as tackling corruption, the independence of judges, cooperation with the International Criminal Court for the Former Yugoslavia and competition policy. “There is still substantial work to be done and the Commission will continue to monitor progress closely, but I hope that, at the end of the month, we can sign off the remaining chapters in the Accession Conference”, Commission President José Manuel Barroso told press on Tuesday 21 June. (H.B./transl.rt)