engleski

Croatia on the way to join the next wave of the EU enlargement

The paper tries to answer the following questions: what is the status of Croatia's preparations for joining the next round of enlargement (the progress in implementing the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), achieved results, potential problems and weaknesses) as well as to which extent could the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) provide efficient mechanism for integrating Croatia into the EU? Apart from aligning policies, legislation and institutions with EU standards, the SAP could help economic progress of SEE through allowing diagonal cumulation of rules of origin for SEE products and giving them access to similar forms of technical assistance that were developed for candidate countries. The paper led to conclusion that countries of the region should be given a clear prospect for becoming real candidates for integration into the EU. Although Croatia made significant progress in implementing the SAA, there is still a lot of work to be done. The application for EU membership submitted in February 2003 should enable the country to continue with the internal reforms more effectively. The EU approach to the SAP countries, evaluating their individual progress, achievements and capacities will hopefully enhance Croatia&#8217 ; ; ; ; s chances to catch up with the remaining candidates in their efforts to become EU members.

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