European Union member states have expressed their satisfaction with the completion of the work on the EU accession treaty with Croatia, which is due to be signed on 9 December, and are welcoming Croatia as a new member as of 1 July 2013, according to draft conclusions which are to be adopted by the General Affairs Council on Monday.
Adoption of the conclusions is the last formality for the signing of the Accession Treaty.
"The Council notes with satisfaction the completion of the work on the Accession Treaty. The Council welcomes the positive Opinion of the Commission of 12 October 2011, the European Parliament's consent of 1 December 2011, and looks forward to the signatuře of the Accession Treaty on 9 December 2011 in Brussels. Pending the successful conclusion of ratification procedures, the Council looks forward to welcoming Croatia as a new member as of 1 July 2013," said the General Affairs Council, which consists of foreign ministers or European affairs ministers of the EU member states.
"The Council welcomes the successful completion of the accession negotiations with Croatia on 30 June 2011, which marks an historic step on Croatia's path towards the EU and brings a new momentum to the European perspective of the Western Balkans, provided these countries continue on the path of reform."
The Council said that Croatia had reached a high level of preparedness for membership and encouraged the country to continue in its efforts in addressing all the necessary issues, notably those concerning judiciary and fundamental rights, justice, freedom and security, and competition policy.
"Implementation of structural reforms to improve the growth potential and international competitiveness of the economy needs to be intensified," it said.
The Council welcomed "Croatia's declaration on promoting European values in South-East Europe and in particular Croatia's commitment that bilateral issues should not obstruct the accession process of candidate countries."
"Croatia is expected to continue to play an active role in regional cooperation in the Western Balkans, including in areas such as refugee return, judicial Cooperation as well as border management," it added.
The Council encouraged Croatia "to continue solving all outstanding bilateral and regional issues, building on the progress achieved so far. The Council regrets recent statements and measures that could call into question the importance of reconciliation and the need to serve justice through the prosecution of war crimes and calls on political leaders to avoid such statements and measures, in line with commitments taken by Croatia during the accession negotiations. Full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) remains essential."
The Council attached importance to "the monitoring of Croatia's fulfilment of all the commitments undertaken in the accession negotiations, including those which must be fulfilled before the date of accession."
The European Commission is to issue its first six-monthly monitoring report next spring and a comprehensive monitoring report in the autumn of 2012.
