State Secretary Bianca Matković held political consultation with Michael Leigh, Director-General for Enlargement

State Secretary Matković informed the guests on main foreign-policy priorities of the Republic of Croatia, the process of Croatia's rapprochement to Euro-Atlantic Integration, as well as on the activities of the Republic of Croatia regarding speeding up the process of EU rapprochement. State Secretary Matković pointed out Croatia’s interest in developing intense and comprehensive relations with the countries of the region in the spirit of good neighbourly relations and advanced regional co-operation, and that the Republic of Croatia is determined to resolve any remaining open issues. In an analysis of the current progress of Croatia’s EU accession negotiations, State Secretary Matković stressed that the fulfilment of the criteria and benchmarks in this particular phase has been significantly quickened, and that this does not affect the quality of the process itself. She also talked about the co-ordination of state administration authorities.

Director-General Leigh and Head of Delegation Degert and their associates were also informed on the baselines of the reform of judiciary, the goal of which is to rationalize and strengthen the efficiency of the judiciary system. Action plan along with the Reform of judiciary strategy which consists of 151 specific measures, stipulates the rationalisation of the number of municipal courts, more efficient procedures and a number of other measures whose aim is to make Croatian judiciary system more efficient. As part of the process of reform, along with the already adopted Misdemeanour Act, Act on Court Areas and Seats, Proposal of the Act on Amendments to the Act on the Legal Profession At this moment, Civil Procedure Act, Execution Act, and Criminal Procedure Act are being drafted.

Regarding the programme of housing needs of returning refugees, it was pointed out that 1418 returning refugees received documents for housing objects, and 1010 awarded objects are located in the special care areas. Almost 76 percent of returning refugees have already moved into these objects, and the rest of them will move in by the end of this year.