Brussels, 18/06/2004 (Agence Europe) - As expected, the European Council endorsed the European Commission's proposal on Croatia's application to join the EU, calling for a bilateral conference to be organised at the beginning of 2005 to launch the negotiations.
The Summit's conclusions note that Croatia respects the 1993 Copenhagen political criteria and the terms of the 1997 Stabilisation and Association Process. The Council called on Croatia to step up its efforts with regard to minority rights, the return of refugees, reforming the judicial system and combatting corruption, helping to strengthen regional cooperation and continuing to fully cooperate with the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia. The conclusions stipulate that the speed of the negotiations will entirely depend on Croatia's ability to implement reforms and hence do not set a date for accession (Croatia would like to join the EU in 2007).
The Croatian prime minister Ivo Sanader spoke to reporters about a great day for Croatia and an important signal for all South-East Europe. He said the negotiations would take one or two years. President Prodi said he was personally very happy and optimistic about Croatia's European future. The positive opinion of the Commission about Croatia is based on the same 'strict' criteria as for all the other candidate countries, commented Mr. Prodi.