| CES organized a discussion on the European Commission's Annual Progress Report on Croatia |
| Monday, 06 December 2010 00:00 |
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The theme of the round table which took place on November 16, 2010, in the Info Centre of the Delegation of the European Union in Zagreb was Croatia and the Western Balkan countries. Panel discussion brought together scientists and professionals who deal with the European Union and with about 60 visitors and journalists it tried to explain the current position of Croatia in the negotiations, mentioned in the Progress Report for Croatia and how it was rated by Croatian politicians and experts, but also what was the situation in the Croatia’s neighborhood countries when it came to negotiations with the European Union.
Regarding the Progress Report on Croatia, Professor Grubiša said that various political parties had different views about its content. On the one hand, the regnants are showing positive aspects of the Report while the opposition and media focus on areas that require extra effort. In addition, media coverage of the contents of the Report is often superficial. Therefore, the panel’s objective was to organize a pragmatic discussion about what the reports mean for Croatia and other countries to which they relate.
Representative of the EU Delegation in Croatia Paolo Berizzi commented on the general characteristics of the Annual Progress Report. Every year in October or November, the European Union sends a report on the status of negotiations to each country in the negotiation process. The report is based on the findings of the European Union, various documents, reports of various organizations and institutions, etc. Except for the countries in the negotiation process, reports are written also for the countries that have already entered the European Union, in a language that is suited to an average citizen. In the report the information about the public opinion, institutions, and of course how much progress has been made (this part is extremely important for countries in the negotiation phase) are presented. In reports for states that are in the process of EU accession, it is important to recognize the diplomatic expression by which the European Commission indicates how much progress has been achieved in certain time. Berizzi said the economic stability of the potential candidate country was crucial for the EU and that it was important that the country had stability and potential for progress. Croatia - for the sixth time in a row the only country with a functioning market Chief negotiator for accession negotiations to the EU, Vladimir Drobnjak, said that 2010 report on the progress of Croatia was very good, especially compared with other Western Balkan countries. Meeting the Copenhagen criteria, Croatia has been evaluated as a stable democracy, and in the field of economy it is the only country in the region that for the sixth year has a functioning market economy, and it is assessed well regarding the regional and bilateral cooperation too. Regarding the ability to assume the membership obligations of the European Union, Croatia has shown a successful progress in all of the 33 chapters out of 35 that are being negotiated. Chief negotiator Drobnjak stressed the importance of marking any progress that was made, adding that it was also important to take into consideration what was the possibility of progressing. “All member states of the European Union evaluated the Croatian negotiations as very good and stated the possibility of their completion next year”, said Ambassador Drobnjak, but he also mentioned everything that Croatia still had to do, with special emphasis on Chapter 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental right).
Report for Croatia - the last before the entry into the EU Chairperson of the Croatian Parliament Delegation to the EU-Croatia Joint Parliamentary Committee, Marija Pejčinović Burić, noted that prior to the report there is a document of "self evaluation" in which the state itself evaluates its status before it is evaluated in the Report. The Report itself is very well written diplomatically and shows very clearly that Croatia is at the end of its journey towards the European Union, since this year's report was referred to the overall progress of Croatia, not only to the past year. But Marija Pejčinović Burić said that the “real” job in reforming the judiciary system and the fighting against corruption would begin only after the entry into the European Union. Due to the agreement on the EU Financial Perspective 2013 – 2020 it is essential to finish the Croatian negotiations in the first half of the next year. Ticket to the EU is the chapter 23 relating to the judiciary system and fundamental rights, said Pejčinović Burić.
Budimir Lončar, Advisor to the President of the Republic since 2005 until 2009 and current President of the Council on Foreign Affairs of the President of the Republic of Croatia participated in the discussion. He mainly talked about the development of the EU and its meaning in the world and what it represented after 53 years of activities. Budimir Lončar was also pleased with the Progress Report, but also expressed concern with the entry into the European Union and the responsibilities it carried. “Shared values imposed by the European Union are a great obligation and responsibility, because apart from the increase of interests of common countries, the problems of poverty between small versus big countries also increase”, highlighted Budimir Lončar. The discussion was ended by Branko Caratan, Professor at the Faculty of Political Science and a member of the Center for European Studies, who pointed to the situation in neighboring countries like Slovenia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, emphasizing the importance of Europeanization of the Balkan region for Europe. |
