Germany plans to seek the imposition of additional clauses as a condition to ratify Croatia's European Union accession treaty which would envisage half-year reports on the situation in the judiciary and the fight against corruption, the chair of the German parliament's European Committee, Gunther Krichbaum of the Christian Democratic Union, told Friday's issue of Neue Presse daily.
There are evident problems especially in the judiciary and the fight against corruption. Thar's why one should soberly conclude that Croatia will certainly need help after joining the EU, Krichbaum was quoted as saying.
He was in a German delegation led by Vice Chancellor Philipp Roessler that earlier this week visited Croatia, which is set to join the EU on 1 July.
He did not bring into question the successful ratification of the accession treaty in the remaining EU countries, including Germany, but did state the conditions for the ratification.
I believe with a 99.5 per cent certainty that the ratification will be successful. But anyone wishing Croatia well should be interested in agreeing on control mechanisms after Croatia joins the EU, most probably in a half-year cycle, said Krichbaum.
Alarming news of an untenable situation coming from Romania and Bulgaria should not be repeated in Croatia's case, Neue Presse said, adding that diplomats in Berlin and Brussels had already been "alarmed" about Germany's intention.
The German parliament is expected to ratify Croatia's EU accession treaty in the coming months. As the chair of the European Committee, Krichbaum will make a recommendation to MPs during the vote that will include a request for post-accession monitoring.
Krichbaum said last autumn already that Croatia was not prepared for EU accession, after which Bundestag president Norbert Lammert echoed his opinion.
Krichbaum has not explained how Germany's post-monitoring request will be sent to and received in Brussels.
