David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 105: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the timescale for the possible accession of Croatia to the European Union; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39513/06]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Accession negotiations were opened with Croatia on 3 October 2005. The screening process, which scrutinises the compatibility of Croatian legislation with EU legislation, has continued during the Finnish Presidency but progress has been quite slow in comparison with previous enlargement rounds. After each chapter has been screened, the EU can decide, on the basis of a proposal from the Commission, whether the negotiations in that sector can be opened. Croatia has opened and provisionally closed negotiations on just one chapter (Science and Research). To date, the Commission has presented its reports to the Council on 15 further negotiating chapters for Croatia. Benchmarks, which must be achieved before negotiations may be opened, have been agreed for 7 of the 15 chapters for Croatia. It is expected that Croatia will be invited to open negotiations on a number of chapters shortly. At this stage, it is not possible to set a timeframe for the completion of the negotiations with Croatia. They will be judged on their own merits and the pace of the negotiations will be determined by progress in fulfilling the requirements of membership. The European Commission published its annual enlargement package on 8 November 2006. The package includes an individual assessment of the progress made by all of the candidate and potential candidate countries as well as an overall enlargement strategy paper. The Commission report commends the good start Croatia has made to its accession negotiations. The report also noted that Croatia needs to accelerate the pace of reforms in order to ensure that its good start to the accession process is maintained.