Brussels, 28/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - In adopting the report by Hannes Swoboda (PES, Austria) by 71 votes in favour and 4 abstentions on Tuesday, the EP's committee on foreign affairs has recognised the progress made by Croatia on the path to accession, but points to the further efforts still expected from Zagreb. This evaluation, which follows the Commission's report on the progress made in 2006 (EUROPE 9302), does not envisage a date for entry into the EU, indicating that this would happen “in due course”. The MEPs nonetheless stress the “rapidity” with which the negotiations have moved thus far, which leaves room for possible accession towards the end of the decade, as already stated several times by Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn. Several shortcomings (in particular in terms of environmental matters, cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia - ICTY - and judicial reform) caught the attention of MEPs, who will vote on the report in the plenary session in April.
Croatia must improve its capacity to implement Community environmental legislation, particularly the Aarhus Convention on public access to environmental information, and ratify the Kyoto protocol. The transition towards an open and competitive market economy will involve reducing state aid in the steel and shipbuilding sectors, the report says. On judicial matters, Zagreb must improve public opinion's image of the ICTY, MEPs believe; they are concerned about a government proposal to cover the defence costs of generals in the Croatian army. More generally, the MEPs also highlight the prejudice which workers in the judicial system continue to harbour against citizens of non-Croat origin, and the lack of protection of witnesses against intimidation. The reform on the appointment of civil servants and police officials and the revision of the legislation on courts are necessary conditions for accession, MEPs recall. They are also concerned about the integration of minorities and the way in which pensions are calculated for people who lived in the Republika Srpska Krajina during the conflict. Finally, they recommend that the Croat authorities do not apply the Protected Ecological and Fisheries zone to countries in the EU, and resolve their border dispute with Slovenia. (ab)