The General Affairs Council is expected next week to welcome Croatia's progress in its preparations for European Union membership, and it will also call on Zagreb to focus on the 10 tasks which the European Commission identified in its last monitoring report on Croatia, according to draft conclusions that should be endorsed at Tuesday's ministerial meeting.
"The Council has thoroughly assessed the monitoring report and tables, and notes with satisfaction that Croatia has continued to make progress in adopting and implementing EU legislation, is completing its alignment with the acquis, and has achieved substantial results in a number of areas," according to the draft. The Council calls on Croatia to sharpen "its focus on the ten key issues highlighted by the Commission, in the fields of competition policy, judiciary and fundamental rights, and justice, freedom and security."
The draft conclusions on the enlargement process are to be on the agenda of the General Affairs Council on Tuesday and Croatia's Foreign and European Affairs Minister Vesna Pusic will attend this meeting of EU foreign and European affairs ministers as an observer. Their conclusion are to be endorsed by heads of state or governments who will meet for an EU summit-meeting on 13-14 December. It is regular practice for EU leaders to make conclusions on enlargement at their summit gatherings in December.
"In this regard, the Council endorses the specific recommendations in the Commission’s report and urges Croatia without delay to address the concerns highlighted in order to ensure that its preparations are successfully completed, and that this can be reflected in the Commission's final monitoring report on Croatia's preparations to be presented in spring 2013, in line with the provisions of the Accession Treaty," according to the draft conclusions.
"The Council recalls Croatia’s commitment that bilateral issues should not obstruct the accession process of candidate countries," according to the document.
"Croatia is expected to continue to play an active role in regional cooperation in the Western Balkans. Bearing in mind the importance of good neighbourly relations and the implementation of legally binding international agreements, the Council encourages Croatia to continue addressing all outstanding bilateral and regional issues, including succession issues, building on progress achieved so far. Further efforts are needed to tackle impunity for war crimes through impartial handling of outstanding cases and through continued full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia."
The draft conclusions read that "the Council notes with satisfaction the ongoing process of ratification of the Accession Treaty and looks forward to welcoming Croatia as a member of the Union as of 1 July 2013, subject to successful completion of ratification procedures by Member States."
