Brussels, 11/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - Commissioner Franco Frattini has indicated that the EU wants to speed up negotiations with Croatia to help it prepare for accession. On Thursday he informed the press that, “We intend to speed up the process paving the way to start concrete negotiations”. He also indicated that discussions had begun on screening Croat legislation, particularly on Chapter 23 (legal and fundamental rights) and 24 (justice, freedom and security. Frattini also said he hoped the screening could be wrapped up by the end of the year and underlined that this stage would allow for detailed accession negotiations to begin in 2007. The Commissioner will focus on securing the borders during negotiations, “the training and recruitment of police officers and, notably, border guards”. Mr Frattini highlighted the fight against criminality, corruption and drug trafficking.