First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Vesna Pusić attended 24 June in Luxembourg a meeting of the General Affairs Council (GAC) at which Albania was granted the EU candidate status. “This was a decision that Croatia has strongly supported and worked on for at least a year. We believe it should have been reached in December last year, but there was no consensus back then,” said Pusić, adding that Albania’s candidate status would contribute to a better future and stability for the entire region. The decision has to be supported by the European Council as well.
The General Affairs Council discussed the European Commission's recommendations to EU member-states regarding their respective reform plans in economic and fiscal policies. "We accept the Commission's recommendations, except one, which requests us to adopt next year a legislation extending the retirement age from 65 years to 67. Our arguments are neither arbitrary nor capricious, but based on facts, including life expectancy in Croatia which is still five years shorter than the EU average and the fact that youth unemployment in Croatia is twice as high as the EU average, and that our structure of pensioners is still affected by the consequences of the wars from the 1990s in our region," Pusić said. "We have today acquainted the GAC with those reservations," Pusić said, adding that "the conclusions include a somewhat liberalised stance and the wording is more general than initially, which we certainly welcome and thank the Commission for accepting our position".
Also adopted were the Council’s conclusions that form a cornerstone for the formal establishment of the Adriatic-Ionian Macroregion by the end of this year.