John Perry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 36: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the progress made by Croatia regarding European Union accession; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3948/07]

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 since then, although progress has been 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 should be opened.

Croatia has opened and provisionally closed negotiations on two chapters ("Science and Research" and "Education and Culture"). Negotiations have been opened on three further chapters ("Economic and Monetary Policy", "Enterprise and Industrial Policy" and "Customs Union"). To date, the Commission has presented its reports to the Council on 11 further negotiating chapters for Croatia. Benchmarks, which must be achieved before negotiations may be opened, have been agreed for 7 of the 11 chapters for Croatia.

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.

At its meeting of 11 December 2006, the General Affairs and External Relations Council welcomed the Commission's report and recommendations. While commending Croatia for the advances it has made in the past year, it stressed the need for Croatia to build on its progress to date and continue its reform programme including, in particular, in the areas of judicial and public administration reform, the fight against corruption and economic reform. The Council stated that rigorous implementation of Croatia's obligations under the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, in particular in the areas of state aid and real estate acquisition, would be essential to maintain Croatia's positive momentum on the path to EU membership. The need for Croatia to continue its cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and to pay due attention to good neighbourly relations and regional cooperation was also emphasised. The European Council endorsed the conclusions of the General Affairs Council at its meeting of 14-15 December.