Croatia moves closer to concluding EU accession talks

Croatia took a significant step towards concluding its EU accession process by closing three more negotiating chapters during a recent enlargement conference in Brussels. Finalised negotiations on the environment, justice and security, and foreign, security and defence policy mean that 28 chapters have now been closed in total. Croatia has closed three more chapters, moving it closer to becoming an EU member.

Both the EU and Croatia aim to conclude the talks in the first half of next year and to sign the accession treaty in autumn, although the EU has refused to set a date for Croatia to join.Enlargement commissioner Stefan Fuele said he recognised there was "a goal to conclude accession talks during the Hungarian EU presidency". But he warned there was still work to be done in Croatia to meet the remaining benchmarks, as well as in the EU where the accession treaty must be prepared for signing and ratification. According to Mr Fuele, 2010 has been a successful year for negotiations with Zagreb as 11 chapters have been closed.

The EU has taken an increasingly cautious approach to further enlargement. Some new mechanisms in the negotiation process with candidate countries have been installed, with Croatia and Turkey the first to be subjected to the new rules. The rules were intended to enhance "credibility" said Mr Fuele, who specifically mentioned the introduction of opening benchmarks (candidate countries have to meet certain criteria even before they can open a chapter) and the requirement of a positive "track record" as a condition for a chapter to be closed. Croatia has reached the final stage of accession talks after more than five years of negotiations, but some difficult decisions still lie ahead. The country still needs to restructure its shipyard industry and continue to fight against corruption at all levels; these will be the two key issues over the next few months.

Mr Fuele rejected suggestions that corruption at the highest political levels threatened to destabilise the country. "That dilemma does not exist since Croatia is a developed democracy where the relevant authorities can do their job independently," he said. Croatia's foreign minister Gordan Jandrokovic said legal action against former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and other senior politicians showed Croatia's determination to fight corruption at all levels. "This will not undermine Croatia's democracy but strengthen it," he said. Seven chapters of the Croatian talks remain to be closed; one relating to 'other issues' is a formal procedure without actual negotiations. Hungary, which will chair the EU Council of Ministers during the first half of next year, has made the conclusion of accession talks with Croatia one of its priorities.

News source: waz.euobserver.com link: article

Secretary-General looks to Europe to help lead way on aid for developing countries

The European Union can help lead the way forward in development cooperation and achieve aid targets, especially for least developed countries (LDCs), despite stringent budget cuts, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today. “Yet, overall, we must acknowledge that there is much more work to do,” he added in a message to the 2010 European Development Days in Brussels which was delivered by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Associate Administrator Rebeca Grynspan. “We know where we want to go. We know what needs to be done. Your gathering can harness new ideas and spur novel approaches on how to do it,” he said of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which seek to slash a host of social ills, including extreme hunger and poverty, maternal and infant mortality, and lack of access to education and health services, all by 2015. Nothing that great strides have been made to improve the quality of aid since the 2002 Monterrey Conference in Mexico on financing for development, he stressed that development cooperation is broader than aid alone.

“Policies in such areas as trade, agriculture or migration must reinforce development objectives,” he declared. “The European Union has embraced policy coherence for development. It is important to translate this into national policy making. “Development cooperation is also broader than governments alone. It engages a vibrant, diverse and ever growing community. It needs to build on the successes and innovations of non- government actors. All need to work in unison. Likewise, many lessons can be learned from South-South cooperation.”

While LDCs continue to confront significant levels of poverty and hunger, they also have abundant natural resources, young populations and huge capacities to create clean energy, he noted. “Next year's upcoming LDC conference in Istanbul should launch a renewed partnership with LDCs, and I look to the European Union to help show the way,” he said. Last week, Mr. Ban called for cooperation on issues ranging from security to development between the UN and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the world’s largest regional security organization, which embraces 56 States stretching from the United States across Europe and Central Asia to the borders of China.

News source: UN News Centre link: article