Brussels, 20/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - Hannes Swoboda (S&D, Austria), the European Parliament's rapporteur on Croatia's request for membership to the EU, issued an opinion on Thursday 20 October in favour of the country's accession, calling on his colleagues to support it. Swoboda said the criteria set out by the Parliament have been sufficiently met for the country to be accepted. He underlined that accession is not only important for Croatia, but for the region as a whole. Bernd Posselt (EPP, Germany) took the view that concluding agreements was a “historic event” adding that such a chance should not be missed. He recalled that, just 20 years ago, Croatia was a war-torn country.
Nonetheless Hannes Swoboda went on to point out that that there is still much to be done. He told Croatians: “We agree with access and we want a speedy ratification process, but you must be aware of your responsibilities”. He explained that “reform is needed in the political, economic, social and judiciary areas”. The report places emphasis on combating corruption, cooperating with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, reforming institutions, and on the right of ethnic and sexual minorities, and relations between Croatia and neighbouring countries.
The rapporteur invites the European Commission to monitor, both thoroughly and objectively, the continuation of preliminaries to accession and to help the Croatian authorities comply with their commitments. The Commission stated that monitoring would be set in place and that a twice-yearly report would take stock of the chapters considered to be the most critical concerning judiciary reform, freedom, security and justice, and competition.
The report will be voted on at the foreign affairs committee on 17 November and in plenary in December. Swoboda underlined that he would like the treaty to be signed as planned in Warsaw on 19 December by the heads of state or government. (CG/transl.jl)