ANDREJ PLENKOVIC
Segretario di Stato per l’Integrazione Europea, Croazia
Abstract
Il Segretario di Stato per l’Integrazione Europea della Croazia ringrazia gli organizzatori e il Ministro degli Esteri Italiano per l’invito. Nel tracciare il percorso dell’Unione per il Mediterraneo, sottolinea l’importanza del mutamento di approccio e prospettiva segnato dall’accordo di Parigi, dal punto di vista dei Paesi della Sponda Est del Mediterraneo. Ricorda, da un altro punto di vista, le difficoltà del processo di integrazione euro-mediterranea legate alla questione mediorientale. Si concentra poi sul processo di integrazione della Croazia nell’Unione Europea, sottolineando i punti di forza (la sinergia tra i progressi politici e quelli economici, legati alla crescita degli interscambi commerciali) e di debolezza (la tripla crisi europea, che rallenta il processo e rende meno popolare l’allargamento ad Est). Conclude sostenendo la compatibilità tra l’allargamento dell’Unione Europea ad Est e a Sud, e la crescita del dialogo e della cooperazione nell’Unione per il Mediterraneo.
Intervento
Grazie Signor Betts.
Vorrei prima di tutto ringraziare il Ministro Frattini per il suo invito a
questo Forum Economico e Finanziario a Milano, mi fa veramente un grande
piacere avere l’occasione di parlare della cooperazione nel Mediterraneo
con un gruppo così rappresentativo degli imprenditori e dei politici di tutti
i nostri Paesi del Mediterraneo.
Mr. Betts, I was indeed one of the members of the Croatian delegation in Paris, two years ago, when upon the initiative of President Sarkozy, the Barcelona Process was renamed as something we now call the Union for the Mediterranean. I believe that coming from an Adriatic country we need to always underline the strategic shift that happened in Paris from our point of view. Namely, it was the first time that the countries of the eastern Adriatic were actually included in the wider Mediterranean framework of cooperation. This was not the case with the Barcelona Process, where the concept of cooperation was devised more in terms of the North-South relationship, whereas this initiative is inclusive and all encompassing. I think that the participation of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania is really a novelty in the Mediterranean framework. Not by importing more difficulties, because we were the region that truly was rich in difficulties, especially during the 1990s, but in coming into the picture with a more constructive approach in order to emancipate something that all our countries with the littoral on the Adriatic are very much attached to.
Those of you who are familiar with Croatia will certainly know that throughout its history the Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik) used to have, at one point, around eighty consulates throughout the Mediterranean; there is virtually not a single country in the Mediterranean today in which our ancestors did not have their representations, engaging in what was the most important to Dubrovnik: trade.
In addition to the fact that we are having the second anniversary of Paris, we have also had the tenth anniversary of the Adriatic Ionian Initiative at the ministerial conference in Ancona a month and a half ago, which we believe is also an important regional framework for cooperation in the Mediterranean. As far as Croatia is concerned, our priority is certainly going in the direction of developing maritime transport, in developing the cooperation in the field of small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as in the environment, and we are certainly hoping that we might be able to host the Ministerial Conference on Environment in Dubrovnik in the future.
From a political point of view, I believe that the first two years after Paris have been burdened by the development of the Middle East Peace Process. There was always a clear realistic expectation that the speed of cooperation in this framework would very much depend on the overall situation in the region. The postponement of the Summit was therefore, I would say, a wise decision. I think we have all given ourselves some time in order to prepare the Summit in November, so as to reach the highest momentum at the moment when the conditions are ripe. Consequently, the initiatives that are currently being taken are certainly going in a good direction.
As regards Croatia’s aspirations to join the European Union, you are aware that we are now at the final stage of our accession negotiations. Recently, on June 30, Croatia opened the remaining three chapters in our accession process and we hope to technically conclude the negotiations in the next ten months, and our objective is to sign the Accession Treaty during the Hungarian Presidency in the first half of 2011.
If we manage that, Croatia could become the 28th member of the European Union during 2012, which is also important in order to be able to consume what the European Commission has already earmarked in the financial package it proposed last autumn, and that package is around 3.5 billion euro for Croatia in 2012 and 2013.
We believe that Croatia has been a model for South East Europe. Our progress in acceding to the European Union has given a lot of good incentives to our neighbours, confirming our policy vis-à-vis the continuation of the enlargement. That indeed has not been the most popular topic across Europe in the last couple of years, because of the fact that the European Union has undergone three crises in the last five years, first the institutional crisis after the negative referenda in France and the Netherlands, then the financial crisis followed by the real economy sector crisis, and now the crisis of the euro which in a way, as you rightly said, put a strain on the principle of the European solidarity.
However, I believe that the response of the prime ministers, as well as of the finance ministers, notably at their meeting on May 9, signalled that Europe is prepared to establish the financial stabilization mechanisms which will ensure that Europe continues as a historic project, as a project which in a way not only creates and preserves peace, but also establishes strong links of solidarity amongst its members, so that the project as such will remain attractive for those that will come after Croatia.
I believe there is compatibility between the enlargement of the European Union to include the countries of South East Europe, and wider cooperation and strengthening of dialogue, absolutely in all the areas within the framework of the Union for the Mediterranean. Consequently, we expect a lot of concrete initiatives since the Secretariat has now been established in Barcelona, especially after the Statutes were adopted two months ago. These are the main aspects of how we see the opportunities in the Union for the Mediterranean for the country that has the longest shoreline on the Eastern coast of the Adriatic.
Thank you very much for your attention.