Written answers

Wednesday, 22 February 2006

Department of Foreign Affairs

EU Membership

9:00 pm

Photo of Pádraic McCormackPádraic McCormack (Galway West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 86: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the measures Croatia is taking towards meeting membership criteria for the European Union; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6835/06]

Photo of Dermot AhernDermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Accession negotiations were opened with Croatia on 3 October 2005. According to the agreed negotiating framework, the shared objective of the negotiations — an open-ended process whose outcome cannot be guaranteed beforehand — is accession. Croatia will be expected to maintain its commitment to the full implementation of human rights and other reforms. The negotiating framework also states that the Union's capacity to absorb Croatia will be an important consideration.

The issue of the Union's absorption capacity is expected to be raised in the context of the forthcoming debate on the Union's enlargement strategy. It is recognised that the Union must remain rigorous in demanding the fulfilment of its criteria for membership. It is also accepted that the Union must communicate effectively with EU citizens and respond to concerns that have been raised in order to anchor support for the enlargement process.

The Commission is currently engaged with Croatia in conducting a screening process designed to assess their state of readiness in the various chapters of the accession negotiations. It is expected to take until late 2006 to complete the screening process for all chapters. After each chapter has been screened, the Council can decide, on the basis of a proposal from the Commission, whether negotiations can be opened in these specific areas. To date, two screening reports, concerning the science and research and education and culture chapters, have been forwarded by the Commission to the Council for consideration.

On 12 December 2005, the General Affairs and External Relations Council, GAERC, welcomed agreement on the accession partnership with Croatia, which has the objective of dealing with problems related to accession. It encouraged Croatia to update its national plan for implementing the identified priorities and recalled that the advancement of negotiations would be guided by progress in implementing the accession partnership. Ireland is providing assistance to Croatia as part of the Department of Foreign Affairs' bilateral assistance programme, which is designed to help new member states and candidate countries prepare for the challenges of EU membership.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.