Dear Rector (Mr
Paul Demaret),
Distinguished guests, Students,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It
is a great pleasure and honor to be with you today in the College of
Europe, a centre of excellence and genuine seed-plot of ideas on European
integration. Allow me first to thank the College for training more than
20 Croatian civil servants in the last decade. They are now among our
most competent experts in European affairs and the driving force of
our integration efforts.
Most of you will probably continue to work in the national administrations
of your countries, in European bodies or institutions dealing in some
way with European affairs. And one of the most important issues you
will face is certainly the future of the Union and the project of the
"completion" of Europe. Therefore, I would like to share with
you my thoughts on the challenges that enlargement poses before the
Convention and the future of Europe, as well as to discuss Croatia's
prospects for joining the Union by 2007.
TRANSFORMATION and ENLARGEMENT OF EUROPE
Just a few months ago, the Copenhagen European Council
adopted a historic decision on enlargement. I would like to congratulate
all ten countries on the successful conclusion of their accession negotiations
with the Union. But allow me to be a little biased and especially congratulate
Croatia's closest neighbors – Hungary and Slovenia. Their accession
to the EU will bring the current borders of the Union closer to Croatia
– a mere 20 kilometers from our capital Zagreb.
We in Croatia see these borders not as a static wall keeping us out,
but as a door inviting us to come in. In its "One Europe"
declaration, Europe has pledged to keep this door open. Enlargement
will continue. The "completion" of Europe cannot be stopped
or reversed.
But what does the map of Europe look like today? After the accession
of Central and East-European countries, Cyprus and Malta, we see a grey
area between Greece and the other EU Member States. This area includes
five states: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia
and Montenegro – countries of the Stabilization and Association Process.
Since June 2000, they have been potential candidates for EU membership.
As each of them becomes a candidate and a member, the map of Europe
will be more and more complete.
The break-up of the former Yugoslavia, the war and its consequences
prevented Croatia from taking part in the enlargement process at an
earlier stage. In the nineties, our democratic and economic development
was hampered and our relations with the EU stagnated. But the transformation
of Croatia began already in this difficult period of recovery and the
political changes in January 2000 turned Croatia into an energetic aspirant
for EU membership determined to make up for lost time. We entered our
first contractual relation with the Union in October 2001 with the Stabilization
and Association Agreement. We pressed on with reforms and made swift
progress in meeting specific conditions in the areas such as minority
legislation, public media, the reform of the judiciary, the return of
refugees and co-operation with the ICTY. Finally, last week in Athens
Croatia applied for EU membership.
I have tried to give you a sweeping view of Croatia's transformation
in the last 12 years: We suffered a war. We struggled to rebuild our
country. We set a reform agenda and worked hard to meet our goals. Our
optimism and our decision to apply for membership are firmly grounded
in our progress and achievements. They also confirm our commitment to
continue with legislative, administrative and economic reforms. And
finally, they reflect the overwhelming public support in Croatia for
joining the EU (76 %).
We have set ourselves the goal of joining the EU by 2007. This is an
ambitious goal, both for Croatia and for the EU. It is ambitious for
Croatia because it requires immense efforts by all segments of society,
particularly by the public administration, in adopting and implementing
more than 80,000 pages of the acquis. The task ahead for the Government
will be anything but easy. But this goal will also require a good deal
of energy on the part of the EU. It calls for the possibility of fast-track
progress through different stages of enlargement: the Commission “avis”
on Croatia's application for membership by the end of May 2004; the
status of candidate at the European Council meeting in June 2004; and
launching negotiations in September 2004.
An ambitious plan, but also realistic. We believe it can be done: our
agenda is clear, our progress visible and our determination is firm.
In just 15 months since the signing of the Stabilization and Association
Agreement we have fulfilled more than 50% of the commitments planned
for a six-year period. The assistance coming from the EU has been invaluable
in achieving this. Now, it is time to move on. The current assistance
coming from the EU is geared toward stabilization and post-conflict
management. The pace of our development clearly shows that we need and
are ready for the next generation of assistance. For example, in order
to assess the quality of our legal harmonization, we need specific technical
assistance that is only open to candidates. In other words, the status
of a candidate will give us the tools we need to move on with reforms.
I am also confident that our goal is realistic for the Union, especially
if the countries of the Stabilization and Association Process would
be transferred to DG Enlargement. The negotiations with candidate countries
have provided it with considerable experience and know-how that can
be valuable in the next round of enlargement.
GREEK PRESIDENCY AGENDA
Though the EU has its own stable and jointly determined
dynamic, I think it is a fortunate coincidence that in 2003 the presidency
will be held by the two Member States from the Southern rims of Europe.
Both the Greek and Italian Presidencies have stressed the countries
of the Stabilization and Association Process as their priority area
of action. The Heads of States or Governments of the EU and the SAP
countries will meet on 21 June in Thessaloniki to decide on ways to
enrich the Stabilization and Association Process. Their goal will be
to modify the existing regional approach and upgrade the EU policy towards
the region.
What do we want from the SAP today? Firstly, we must remember its purpose:
the stabilization and integration of the SAP countries into Europe at
a pace best suited to each individual country. To achieve this, we need
to make the Process more dynamic and flexible. The process of generating
new candidates must follow the basic principles of the Process: individual
merit and individual pace. The progress of one country can then be a
guiding light for the others in the region. The success of one country
becomes an engine for the entire region. Croatia's visible progress,
confirmed by the status of candidate, would not only affirm the individual
approach within the Stabilization and Association Process, but its effect
on the region would show it to be an important achievement of the SAP
policy framework.
However, let me be completely open and say that I also see a possible
delay on our road to the EU. This is the notion of enlargement fatigue.
It is present not only in the public opinion but also in European institutions
and the national administrations of Member States. Although the reasons
for this fatigue are understandable, it should not be allowed to hamper
the transformation and completion of Europe. Fatigue is something we
in Croatia can understand. Ours is of a different kind. What we have
faced is transition fatigue that built up in the last eleven years since
Croatia was recognized as an independent sovereign state. We went through
four parallel transitions. We became a state. We fought a defensive
war. We introduced an open market and market economy, and we established
full parliamentary democracy. But we found the strength to overcome
this fatigue and push on with difficult reforms and complete the transition
process. Similarly, I am confident that the Union will overcome its
enlargement fatigue and complete the transformation of Europe.
WHAT WILL CANDIDACY BRING US?
Candidate status would provide Croatia with stronger
mechanisms to enhance its integration activities. Just like candidates
from Central and Eastern Europe, we see the implementation of the Stabilisation
and Association Agreement and preparation for accession as parallel
and complementary reform-oriented processes. Candidate status would
provide us with a palpable boost at a time when we are embarking on
the more costly and lengthy phase of reforms, such as large-scale privatisation,
enterprise reconstruction, legal and administrative harmonisation. And
let us not forget that maintaining high public enthusiasm is a key factor
in successful reforms.
With the status of candidate country Croatia would become eligible for
stronger assistance in the field of Justice and Home Affairs. This would
enable us to make a greater contribution to strengthening European security
and its capability to fight trans-border organised crime in all its
aspects. It also means we would be able to positively influence developments
in the region.
WHAT WILL OUR CANDIDACY MEAN FOR THE REGION?
Declaring Croatia a candidate country would be a strong message to the
other countries of the Stabilization and Association Process. It would
clearly show them that they can achieve the same status in due time
if they persist with the necessary reforms and the fulfillment of the
Copenhagen criteria. It would be a much needed encouragement in the
difficult tasks they face. And a firm anchor in the EU would give Croatia
additional leverage to be a positive influence on its neighbors through
regional and cross-border co-operation.
A politically and economically safe, stable and prosperous region is
clearly our vital national interest. Our neighborhood is burdened with
problems, some of them with status issues and others relating to the
form of existing states. By becoming a candidate, Croatia would bring
new enthusiasm to the region, while remaining a responsible participant
in regional co-operation. At present Croatia has more than 200 bilateral
agreements with neighboring states and actively participates in more
than ten different regional initiatives.
CONVENTION
Finally, although Croatia does not participate in the Convention, I
would like to share with you some of my personal thoughts on the work
of the Convention and my vision of the next phase of European integration.
I think that the new way of preparation of the next Intergovernmental
conference in the form of Convention is an excellent novelty. The wide
debate organized before the inauguration of the Convention allowed for
broad exchange of views on the most important questions on future of
Europe. Subsequently the structure and membership of the Convention
provided in-depth and inclusive discussion on the most challenging issues
related to the enlargement of the Union – functioning of institutions
and the Union powers. I also consider the link that Convention has established
with Youth Forum and Forum on Civil Society as a very important contribution
to its work.
Even though Croatia is only observing the work of the Convention, it
is highly important to us. Croatian strategic goal is the membership
in the EU, and therefore - Croatia is following with utmost attention
the debate on how the Union will look like in the future. We are aware
of the fact that the Union Croatia will join will be much different
from the one that we have applied for last week.
The EU that Croatia will join will be certainly more numerous. It will
function with increased number of different interests. The discussion
in the EU will become more difficult, as well as the decision making
procedures. It will be much more demanding to achieve consensus in Union
of 25 than in Union of 15. In such a situation the need for flexibility
will increase considerably.
I fully agree with the notion that has been repeated so often in the
work of the Convention that the Union needs to get closer to its citizens,
and that this fact remains the biggest challenge for the whole process.
The proposal for Constitutional Treaty that would merge present Treaties
in the single text would be significant steps in simplifying Union’s
basic documents.
During the discussion in the Convention we listen to all participating
countries, but we have a special interest for small countries’ views.
Simply because, when Croatia joins the EU, it will become a part of
that group. In our opinion that equality between all member states in
the EU should be preserved and made a starting point in the overall
efforts to make Union more efficient, flexible and transparent.
Croatia would like to join strong Union, Union that is ready and capable
to respond and deliver effectively, in accordance with high expectations
that are shared among European citizens. Though it remains to be seen
what would be the final outcome of the Convention, one thing is certain.
The result should promote a more efficient and democratic Union, capable
of continuing the process of enlargement and reinforcing the European
integration.
Thank you.
