Introduction

Prior to acquiring membership in the European Union, each candidate country must meet uniform criteria for membership in the European Union. At the session of the European Council held in Copenhagen in June 1993, three criteria were established (the Copenhagen Criteria) to be met by all future candidates prior to their accession into full membership of the European Union. These are as follows:

(1) POLITICAL: stability of institutions which ensure democracy, the rule of law, respect for human and minority rights as well as adoption of political goals of the Union;

(2) ECONOMIC: existence of an efficient market economy and ability of market factors to cope with competition pressures and market laws within the European Union;

(3) LEGAL: adoption of the complete acquis communautaire of the European Union.
However, the need soon arose to set another important criterion. Namely, though the adoption of the acquis communautaire is important, it is still more important to ensure its efficient implementation and application by means of an adequate administrative organisation. Therefore, at its session in Madrid in December 1995, the European Council concluded that the implementation of all reforms (political, economic and legal) needs to be accompanied by an adequate administrative organisation. Thus, the fourth criterion for membership was established in Madrid:

(4) ADMINISTRATIVE: adaptation of corresponding administrative structures with the aim of providing conditions for gradual and harmonised integration (such as strengthening administrative capacities, establishing an efficient state administration system with the aim of securing an efficient process of adopting and implementing the acquis communautaire of the European Union).

a) Stabilisation and Association Agreement
b) Application of the Republic of Croatia for full membership in the European Union
c) Questionnaire of the European Commission
d) Opinion (avis) of the European Commission
e) European Partnership
f) Croatia as candidate for full membership in the European Union
g) Pre-Accession Strategy
h) Membership negotiations
i) Preparations for negotiations
j) Accession negotiations between the Republic of Croatia and the European Union
k) Accession partnership


a) Stabilisation and Association Agreement

By signing the Stabilisation and Association Agreement on 29 October 2001, the Republic of Croatia entered contractual relations with the European Union for the first time. This marked the most important formal step in the process of the Republic of Croatia rapprochement to the European Union, which preceded the submission of the application for full membership, the acquisition of candidate status and the opening of negotiations on accession.

The Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) is a special association agreement, offered by the European Union to states included in the Stabilisation and Association Process, one of them being Croatia. The SAA grants the signatories the status of an associate member and a potential candidate for membership in the European Union. For the Republic of Croatia, this Agreement is the first and only contractual step on the way to accession into EU membership. The objective of the SAA is to establish political dialogue, align legislation, promote economic relations, develop a free trade zone, ensure regional co-operation and support co-operation in many other areas.

The Stabilisation and Association Agreement signed between the Republic of Croatia and the European Communities and their Member States did not enter into force by the act of its signing. In order for the SAA to enter into force, it must be ratified by all the represented sides: the Croatian Parliament on the Croatian side and the European Parliament and all the Member States on the side of the European Union. Upon the completion of the ratification procedure, the SAA entered into force on 1 February 2005.

Following the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the Republic of Croatia and the European Communities and their Member States and the Interim Agreement, applicable until the entry into force of the SAA, the Protocol on Enlargement annexed to the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, known as Protocol 7, was signed on 21 December 2004. This Protocol considers the enlargement of the European Union by a further ten new member states and regulates their accession to the SAA and the Interim Agreement. The main purpose of the Protocol is to adapt the SAA and Interim Agreement provisions referring to the trade in agricultural products, foodstuffs and fisheries products, so as to appropriately regulate trade relations of the Republic of Croatia with the enlarged European Union.

Documents to download:
- Stabilisation and Association Agreement


b) Application of the Republic of Croatia for full membership in the EU

The Republic of Croatia submitted its application for full membership in the European Union on 21 February 2003 in Athens. According to the usual procedure, the application was submitted to the Council of the European Union, i.e. the Member State of the European Union presiding over the Council at the time—Greece. Preparation of the application of the Republic of Croatia for full membership in the European Union was entrusted to the interdepartmental Working Group consisting of 16 representatives appointed from the Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia, the Croatian Parliament, the Government of the Republic of Croatia, the then Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the then Ministry of European Integration. The task of the Working Group was to co-ordinate the activities of the aforementioned institutions regarding the application for membership in the European Union, from preparation of the application text itself to all activities related to its submission.


c) Questionnaire of the European Commission

Following submission of Croatia’s application for membership in the European Union, the Council of the European Union, at its session of 14 April 2003, entrusted the European Commission with the task of drawing up an Opinion (avis) on the Croatian application. In line with the usual procedure of drawing up an Opinion, on 10 July 2003, the Commission submitted to Croatia its Questionnaire comprised of 4,560 questions from various areas regarding the functioning of the state, institutions, economy, etc. The answers to the Questionnaire reflect the situation in Croatia; their drafting was a very extensive task completed within the set deadline of three months, i.e. the answers to the Questionnaire were submitted to the European Commission on 9 October 2003. In December 2003 and January 2004, the European Commission sent 184 additional questions, the answers to which were prepared and submitted by the Government of the Republic of Croatia.

Documents to download:
- Answers of the Government of the Republic of Croatia to the European Commission Questionnaire


d) Opinion of the European Commission

Based on the answers to the Questionnaire as well as other sources (Member States, international organisations and non-governmental organisations), the European Commission delivered its positive Opinion (avis) on the application of the Republic of Croatia for EU membership on 20 April 2004. This means that the Commission favourably assessed Croatia’s ability to further develop towards its goal—membership in the European Union, regarding its abilities to meet the membership criteria as defined by Article 49 of the Treaty on the European Union, the Copenhagen criteria and the Madrid criterion. The Opinion of the European Commission stresses that Croatia has stable democratic institutions and that it can be regarded a country with an efficient market economy; it also points out that Croatia is to continue carrying out the required reforms in order to achieve all European standards and to further align the national legislation with the EU regulations. In line with such an Opinion, the European Commission made its recommendation to the European Council for the opening of negotiations on full membership with Croatia.

Documents to download:
- Opinion of the European Commission on the application of the Republic of Croatia for membership in the European Union


e) European Partnership

Simultaneously with the opinion and recommendations, the European Commission made its Proposal for the European Partnership for Croatia, which elaborated the short- and medium-term priorities for Croatia's preparations for further integration with the European Union. Prior to the adoption of the Accession Partnership in 2006, the Council of the European Union adopted the European Partnership on 13 September 2004; on the basis of that document, the European Commission measured Croatia’s progress in the process of acceding to the European Union. The European Partnership for Croatia reflected the current state of its preparedness and it was created according to its needs; the priorities of the European Partnership were later implemented into the Accession Partnership. Croatia was expected to respond to the European Partnership by preparing a plan with a time line and details, explaining how it intends to address the priorities from the European Partnership. This was accomplished in 2004 by reviewing the National Programme for the Integration of the Republic of Croatia into the European Union –2004, and by defining adequate measures in the National Programme for 2005.

Documents to download:
- Decision of the Council on the European Partnership with Croatia


f) Croatia as a candidate for full membership in the European Union

The Republic of Croatia acquired the status of an official candidate for full membership in the European Union at the session of the European Council in Brussels on 18 June 2004. At the same session, the European Council decided to convene a bilateral intergovernmental conference at the beginning of 2005, with the aim of entering into accession negotiations and it entrusted the European Commission with the task of drawing up a pre-accession strategy for Croatia on the basis of the European Partnership.


g) Pre-Accession Strategy

The European Commission announced its Pre-Accession Strategy for Croatia on 6 October 2004.

The main elements of the Pre-Accession Strategy for Croatia are as follows:

- drafting regular annual Progress Reports of the Commission, regarding the progress of Croatia in the process of EU accession, starting in 2005;
- opening the pre-accession financial programmes Phare, ISPA and SAPARD to Croatia;
- establishing the Stabilisation and Association Council and Stabilisation and Association Committee as well as its sub-committees as bodies for monitoring SAA application and implementation, but also as a forum for questions related to the legislation alignment process;
- adopting a Framework Agreement enabling Croatia to participate in Community programmes.

Implementation commenced in line with the aforementioned elements of the Pre-Accession Strategy. On 3 June 2005, the Croatian Parliament ratified the Framework Agreement between the Republic of Croatia and the European Community on general principles for the participation of the Republic of Croatia in the Community programmes, signed in Brussels on 22 November 2004. Croatia has been using the three pre-accession financial programmes— Phare, ISPA and SAPARD— since the 2005 budget year.

On 9 November 2005, the European Union released its first Progress Report for Croatia for the period from April 2004 to September 2005, assessing progress in meeting the political and economic criteria for membership in the European Union, as well as the ability to assume obligations arising from the membership, especially with regard to legislation alignment.

Documents to download:
- Strategic document of the European Commission on the progress in the enlargement process
- Croatia 2006 Progress Report


h) Membership negotiations

At its session in Brussels on 17 December 2004, the European Council adopted the decision whereby the accession negotiations with the Republic of Croatia would commence on 17 March 2005, on the condition of full co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague. At the same session in Brussels, the European Council entrusted the Commission with the task of drawing up a general framework for the negotiation process between the Republic of Croatia and the European Union, taking into consideration the experiences from the fifth enlargement. On 31 January 2005, the European Commission proposed the framework of negotiations on the membership of the Republic of Croatia, which was adopted by the Council of the European Union at its session in Bruxelles on 16 March 2006. At the same session, due to the lack of consensus regarding the issue of full co-operation of Croatia with the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the European Union made a decision to postpone the accession negotiations with the Republic of Croatia.

i) Preparations for negotiations

In January 2005, the Head of the Croatian State Delegation for negotiations with the European Union, the Chief Negotiator of the Republic of Croatia with the European Union and the secretary of the Negotiating Team were appointed. In March, the process of appointment of heads of the 13 negotiating groups was completed.

On 19 January 2005, within the framework of the preparations for the negotiations, the Croatian Parliament adopted the Declaration on the fundamental principles of negotiations for full membership of the Republic of Croatia in the European Union and the Decision on the establishment of the National Committee for Monitoring the Accession Negotiations as a working body of the Parliament. On that date, the Croatian Parliament and the Government of the Republic of Croatia adopted the Statement on joint activities of the Government and the Parliament in the process of negotiations for EU membership.

Documents to download:
- Decision on the establishment of the National Committee
- Declaration on the fundamental principles of negotiations
- Statement on joint actions of the Government and the Parliament in the process of negotiations on EU membership


j) Accession negotiations between the Republic of Croatia and the European Union

Upon the decision of the European Council on the opening of negotiations and convening of the bilateral intergovernmental conference on accession, the negotiations formally commenced on 3 October 2005 with the first session of the intergovernmental conference between the EU Member States and the Republic of Croatia. At this conference, the General Positions of the European Union and the Republic of Croatia were exchanged.

Accession negotiations are the core of the entire process of accession to the European Union, which starts with the submission of an application for membership and, upon the close of negotiations, is completed with the signing, ratification and entering into force of the Accession Treaty.

The formal opening of the negotiating process is followed by an analytical overview and evaluation of the degree of alignment of the national legislation of the candidate state with the acquis communautaire, known as the screening process.

Following completion of the analytical overview of the degree of legislation alignment, the decision on opening negotiations for individual chapters, depending on the evaluated readiness of the candidate country, is made by the Member States within the Council of the European Union.


k) Accession Partnership

On 9 November 2005, the European Commission released its Proposal for the Accession Partnership for Croatia, and on 20 February 2006 this was adopted by the EU Council. The Accession Partnership contains short-term and medium-term priorities with the aim of meeting membership criteria, including: judicial reform, battling corruption, protection of minorities, resolution of border issues as well as implementation of obligations from the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. The priorities stipulated in the Accession Partnership are based on the priorities contained in the European Partnership from 2004, and they are reviewed in line with the European Commission Progress Report on Croatia from 2005. Since the commencement of accession negotiations with Croatia on 3 October 2005, the European Commission regarded it necessary to adopt the Accession Partnership, updating the former European Partnership. Therefore, the Accession Partnership replaces the formerly adopted European Partnership as the central document by which the further progress of the Republic of Croatia in the process of integration into the European Union will be measured. Furthermore, the Association Partnership serves as a kind of guide for programming pre-accession financial assistance of the European Union to the Republic of Croatia. Croatia approached the implementation of the priorities stipulated in the Accession Partnership by defining measures to be carried out in 2006. These are contained in the National Programme for the Integration of the Republic of Croatia into the European Union—2006, including the projection of measures to be carried out in 2007 and 2008.

Documents to download:
- National Programme for the Integration of the Republic of Croatia into the European Union – 2007