Luxembourg, 29/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - The EU and Croatia signed, on Monday in Luxembourg, an association and stabilisation agreement as well as an interim agreement to take effect on 1 January 2002 to allow Croatia to benefit from the trade provisions of the association agreement pending its ratification.
The association agreement, signed by Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan, the EU Foreign Ministers and Commissioner Chris Patten covers: - political dialogue; - regional cooperation; - the four freedoms, with the creation of a free trade area for goods and services after a six-year transitional period; - the approximation of Croatian legislation with EU standards; - and broad cooperation in all fields of Community interest, including justice and home affairs. Substantial financial aid will be provided to Croatia via the CARDS programme. It received EUR 60 million in 2001 and an allocation of 191 million is foreseen for the 2002-2004 period.
Mr Patten welcomed the signing of the agreement, reflecting the progress made over the past 22 months. He said it brought Croatia closer to the EU and created a clear framework for the reforms that the country now had to implement as a potential candidate country, seeing the agreement as marking the beginning of a new phase, but that Croatia still had a long way to go before it met the ambitious targets that it had set itself with this agreement.
Croatia and the EU also endorsed a common declaration outlining the areas covered by the regular political dialogue that will be set up as part of the Association Agreement procedure, namely: strengthening democracy; fundamental rights, including for minorities; promoting regional co-operation; promoting convergence between the parties on international issues; and strengthening security and stability across Europe.
In a press release, the Croatian government confirmed that joining the EU was its major strategic objective and wanted to see the Association Agreement implemented quickly and effectively and stressed Croatia's commitment to implement the necessary reforms.