Croatia

The European Commission today recommended that the accession negotiations with Croatia be concluded by the end of June. Croatia could thus join the European Union on 1 July 2013. Commenting on the Commission's proposal, Franziska Brantner, spokesperson for foreign affairs of the Greens/EFA group, said:

"We are pleased that Croatia is now in the final stretch of the accession process. This makes Croatia a role model for the Western Balkans, a region whose future clearly lies within the European Union. Following the European Commission's proposal to conclude the accession talks by the end of June, it must now be ensured that Croatia's commitment to reform does not wane. Croatia must stay on its course of the past years and see the necessary reforms through to the end.

"As late as March the Commission identified a number of serious problems in the areas of justice and fundamental freedoms. Some of them still exist and cannot be solved overnight. Croatia must therefore continue to fully implement its reform commitments. At the same time, the Commission must continue to closely monitor Croatia's progress between the signing of the accession agreement and the actual entry. This is exactly what the citizens of the EU, and the civil society organisations in Croatia promoting the comprehensive modernisation of their country, expect.

"We therefore also support the call by Croatian non-governmental organisations to establish a domestic, i.e. Croatian, mechanism to monitor the reform progress. This mechanism could be associated with Croatia's parliament and consulted when the European Commission draws up its progress reports."