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Croatia-EU Entry Negotiations Proceeding In Right Direction - Chief Negotiator |
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Tuesday, 29 November 2005Croatia's entry negotiations with the European Union are proceeding in a good direction and at a good pace, Croatia's chief negotiator Vladimir Drobnjak said in Brussels on Monday after a Croatia-EU intergovernmental conference on accession.
The conference, the first since the negotiations were launched on October 3, was held on the level of deputy delegation heads. EU president Great Britain was represented by its ambassador to the Union, John Grant, while the European Commission was represented by the director general for enlargement, Fabrizio Barbaso.
Drobnjak told the press it was confirmed at the conference that negotiations would be based on the achievements of the candidate country and that their pace would depend to the greatest extent on the candidate country's ability and readiness to meet all criteria.
He said the EC reminded Croatia of its obligation to fully cooperate with the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
Negotiating procedures, the organisation of the negotiations, and the programme of the screening process, the analysis of the adjustment of Croatian legislation with European standards until March 31 2006, were adopted at the conference, said Drobnjak.
He added that by that time more than half the chapters envisaged in the negotiations would be screened, and that the whole process was expected to be completed by next autumn.
Drobnjak said the first reports on the chapters "science and research" and "education and culture" were expected in January.
He said the accession conference was held too early because the first report on a chapter on which explanatory and bilateral screening was held, was expected only in January.
The usual practice is that a minimum two accession conference are held during one country's six-month presidency of the EU, one on the ministerial level and one on the level of delegation heads.
Drobnjak said that at this conference Croatia expressed hope that it would be able to open a number of chapters by the end of Austria's EU presidency, June 2006. Decisions on opening or closing a chapter being screened are made at such intergovernmental accession conferences.
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Tuesday, 29 November 2005
Croatian News Agency-HINA
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