The Daily Star, March 26, 2013
EU flag is seen in front of the EU Commission Headquarters on March 14, 2013 in Brussels. AFP PHOTO / GEORGES GOBET |
BRUSSELS:
Brussels deemed Croatia ready to become the 28th European Union member in July
in a final report issued Tuesday stating that it complied with EU rules, though
more work was needed to fight crime and corruption.
The report
from the EU executive said Croatia had successfully completed a string of
EU-requested reforms in 10 areas ranging from restructuring its shipbuilding
industry to recruiting more border police.
"The
(European) Commission concludes that Croatia will be ready to join the European
Union on July 1, 2013," the report said. It "has shown the will and
ability to fullfil all outstanding commitments in good time before
accession".
Aspiring EU
entrants are required to upgrade legislation in line with the 27-nation bloc's
values, rules and regulations during the accession process.
Brussels'
15-page final report gave Croatia good marks for privatising and restructuring
its shipyards as well as for meeting EU targets in the field of anti-trust and
merger measures and judicial reforms.
But it
noted that more progress was needed in fighting corruption and organised crime.
"The
level of sentences in organised crime cases remains low. Also in the area of
corruption court sentences are low; very often suspended sentences are
pronounced," it said, noting too that the amounts of assets that were
seized and confiscated in such cases "remains limited".
Croatia is
to elect its first European Parliament deputies on April 14 ahead of the July
entry, choosing 12 deputies to serve just 12 months of a five-year mandate,
with a new vote expected in 2014.
Croatia
will be the second of six former Yugoslav republics to join the 27-nation bloc,
nine years after Slovenia.
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