It is in our common interest that Croatia become a member of the European Union on July 1, 2013. I am confident that Croatia is on a very good track. We all know the homework that Croatia needs to do, and most of it will be done by the end of this year, while some technical issues will require a few more months next year, Roucek told the press in the Croatian Parliament building after meeting with members of the committees on European integration and foreign affairs.

I would like to congratulate Croatia on the progress made and on the process of ratification because we still have eight months and 19 countries have already ratified Croatia's EU accession treaty, he said.

Roucek said that the European Commission would release its final report on Croatia in April. He said that he as Rapporteur would also compile a report and that he had arrived in Zagreb to obtain more information about the remaining issues that needed to be resolved.

Earlier in the day Roucek met with representatives of civil society, visited the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds and met with Parliament Speaker Josip Leko. In the afternoon he was scheduled to meet with the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Vesna Pusic.

The European Parliament will support the accession of Croatia to the European Union. Together we will work hard for the remaining seven or eight months, and I am confident that by July 1 next year everything will be done and Croatia will become an EU member, Roucek said.

When asked if the Croatian Constitutional Court acted contrary to the European Commission's recommendation when on Wednesday it abolished some of the provisions of the Conflict of Interest Act, Roucek said that we must all abide by Constitutional Court decisions, adding that the legislative alignment process would not end with Croatia's entry into the EU and that certain adjustments could be made after the accession.

As regards the Ljubljanska Banka issue, which burdens relations between Croatia and EU member Slovenia and could become an obstacle to the ratification of Croatia's EU accession treaty by Slovenia, Roucek expressed confidence that a solution would be found.

Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Milorad Pupovac said that Roucek had succeeded Hannes Swoboda as Rapporteur at a time when it was extremely important to Croatia to have the best possible cooperation with the European Parliament and its Rapporteur. He said he hoped that the partnership, which had been very productive for both Croatia and the EU, would be brought to a successful completion over the next few months.

European Integration Committee Chairman Daniel Mondekar described the meeting as very good, saying that they had discussed the pace of fulfilment of the action plan and other issues of importance to Croatia, such as the functioning of the Parliament after Croatia becomes an EU member, and EU funds.