Brussels, 15/04/2009 (Agence Europe) - Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn proposed setting up an arbitration commission to settle the border dispute between Slovenia and Croatia, says Slovenian daily Delo. This dispute has, for several months, brought deadlock to Croatia's EU accession negotiations. The (secret) proposal put to both parties on 25 March provided for the creation of a commission of five lawyers to find a solution before the end of the year. The head of the commission was to be appointed by the European Commission, with Zagreb and Ljubljana each nominating two members. The commissioner's proposal also stipulated that Slovenia was to lift its veto on the continuation of Croatia's accession talks as soon as the two parties signed the arbitration agreement, Delo reports. On Wednesday, Rehn's spokeswoman did not wish to make any comment on the matter. She simply confirmed that a fresh proposal had been put to the two parties on 25 March after they failed to agree on the Commission's initial proposal (which would have put in place a group of experts, led by Martti Ahtisaari, to try to “facilitate” a negotiated settlement between the two countries). The new proposal was backed by the “trio” of EU Presidencies and a further trilateral meeting (Commission/Slovenia/Croatia) is due to take place “soon”, added the spokeswoman. The aim is to work quietly in the background to break the stalemate so that Croatian accession talks can resume, if possible before the next meeting scheduled for 24 April, she said. (H.B./transl.rt)