If everything is alright, the negotiations could be wrapped up towards the end of the first half of next year, during Hungary's European Union presidency, said Alexandra Cas Granje, director for accession candidates at the European Commission's Enlargement Directorate General.

Speaking at a meeting of the EU-Croatia Joint Parliamentary Committee, which began in Brussels on Monday afternoon, Cas Granje outlined the possible pace at which the remaining negotiation chapters would be closed.

At the next accession conference, scheduled for December 22, Croatia could close three chapters - "Justice, Freedom and Security", "Environment" and "Foreign, Security and Defence Policy", said Cas Granje.

The European Commission has already confirmed that Croatia has met all the closing benchmarks for the "Environment" chapter and today was the first time that this was also done for "Justice, Freedom and Security" and "Foreign, Security and Defence Policy". The Commission has forwarded the chapters to Council of the EU working bodies, which have to greenlight the closing.

I hope this will be done on time so the chapters can be closed at the next accession conference, said Cas Granje.

Regarding the "Judiciary and Fundamental Rights" chapter, she said the Commission would release a provisional report on Croatia's compliance with the closing benchmarks most probably on March 11, when it would be clearer when the chapter could be closed.

Croatia has to close six policy chapters next year. It has met the closing benchmarks for the "Fisheries" chapter, but the EU still has to define a response to Croatia's request for a transitional period and to Slovenia's request regarding traditional fishermen's rights.

Cas Granje said that was being worked on and that "Fisheries" could be ready for closing early next year.

As for the "Agriculture and Rural Development", "Regional Policy and the Co-ordination of Structural Instruments" and the "Finance and Budgetary Provisions" chapters, which are usually closed at the end of the EU entry talks, Cas Granje said the European Commission was tackling them for the first time without the accession date being known, and that Commission services were discussing the matter.

Cas Granje voiced hope that "Agriculture and Rural Development" and "Regional Policy and the Co-ordination of Structural Instruments" would be closed in the first quarter of 2011 and "Finance and Budgetary Provisions" somewhat later.

The closing of the "Competition Policy" chapter will depend on restructuring plans for the shipyards. Cas Granje said the Commission had received plans for three shipyards and that they were being examined.

Cas Granje warned about two risks regarding the closing of the "Judiciary and Fundamental Rights" chapter, the first being the track record, which requires a certain amount of time. The shorter the time, the more effort is necessary to achieve a good track record, she said.

The second risk concerns cooperation with the Hague war crimes tribunal, as Croatia has to assure the tribunal in an appropriate fashion that it is doing its best regarding missing documents, she said, also underlining the importance of war crimes trials.

Croatia's chief negotiator Vladimir Drobnjak said Croatia had met all the benchmarks, except for the "Judiciary and Fundamental Rights" and "Competition Policy" chapters.

We are in the final stage of talks with the Commission about the closing of "Agriculture and Rural Development", "Regional Policy and the Co-ordination of Structural Instruments", "Fisheries" and "Finance and Budgetary Provisions", in which the benchmarks have been met, said Drobnjak.

At this moment, we have met more than 90 closing benchmarks, which is the best evidence of the job Croatia has done, he said, adding that now the focus was on the "Judiciary and Fundamental Rights" and "Competition Policy" chapters.

We are optimistically awaiting the Commission's report on the meeting of benchmarks in the "Judiciary and Fundamental Rights" chapter, said Drobnjak.

One of the main topics of the two-day meeting in Brussels is judicial reform and the fight against corruption and organised crime.

Justice Minister Drazen Bosnjakovic spoke of what Croatia had achieved in the judiciary, saying that two key changes had been made towards judicial independence, the first referring to the model of election of the Judicial Appointment Council, which will no longer be appointed by parliament, and the second to the establishment of a state school for judges and prosecutors.

Bosnjakovic said backlog court cases would be solved in the next two years.

Regarding corruption, he said the prosecution of high level corruption figures, including ministers and deputy premiers, sent a clear message to the public that no one was privileged and that Croatia was really determined to crack down on corruption.

A state secretary at the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Andrej Plenkovic, spoke of Croatia's progress in the EU entry talks and presented Croatia's initiatives and joint achievements in regional cooperation, results in the return of refugees and displaced persons, and the protection and promotion of human and minority rights.

Plenkovic also outlined the Croatian government's campaign aimed at raising public awareness of the EU.

On Tuesday, the EU-Croatia Joint Parliamentary Committee will close its 12th meeting by adopting a declaration and recommendations.

The Committee is co-chaired by Gunnar Hoekmark, the European People's Party's Swedish deputy on behalf of the European Parliament, and by Marija Pejcinovic Buric on behalf of the Croatian parliament.