Brussels, 12/12/2006 (Agence Europe) - The third meeting of the Accession Conference with Croatia at ministerial level, which was held on the sidelines of the General Affairs and External Relations Council on 11 December, allowed the parties to provisionally close the second of the 35 negotiation chapters on Education/Culture. The first chapter, Science and Research was closed in June. The European Commission has already presented draft Common Positions on three further chapters, namely Economic and Monetary Policy, Enterprise and Industrial Policy and Customs Union, and they are currently under examination in the Council. They will have to be unanimously approved before full negotiations can begin with the Croatian authorities. Finnish minister and current President of the EU Council Erkki Tuomioja, who chaired the meeting on Monday evening, said he hoped a further Accession Conference with Croatia, at deputy level, could still be held before the end of the year. (hb)