Brussels, 26/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has offered to provide a further €13.1 million in the EU's 2012 budget to cover expenditure for additional human resources, for when Croatia joins the EU. According to the correcting letter (the second referring to the 2012 budget), appropriations will also include mission expenditure for Croatian observers in the European Parliament and the Committee of the Regions, and will finance communication activities as well as additional equipment and operating expenditure linked to the recruitment of supplementary staff.
The signing of the accession treaty and the Croatian referendum are both expected to take place in the second half of 2011 or first half of 2012, the Commission explains. The ratification process by the parliaments of all 27 EU member states is expected to be concluded by the end of June 2013, allowing for entry into force of the treaty for accession of Croatia to the European Union to take place on 1 July 2013.
In total, 78 new establishment plan posts are requested by the European Parliament, the Commission, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions and the European Ombudsman. However, corresponding appropriations are only requested for 14 posts, given that neither the Parliament (62 new posts) nor the Ombudsman (2 new posts) request any appropriations for their respective new posts. Moreover, appropriations for 117 other agents (contract agents and seconded national agents) are requested until full membership of Croatia as of 1 July 2013. (LC/transl.jl)