Croatia 'To Join EU by 2010'

Brussels _ Croatia could join the European Union by 2010, the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barosso said Thursday .

Barosso, said he believes that accession talks with Croatia will be finished by end of next year, opening the way for Croatia to join the EU in 2010.

“I have every confidence that Croatia will be able to meet the conditions, every confidence that the Commission will therefore be able to set out such a conditional roadmap in the autumn, and every confidence that it should be possible to conclude the technical negotiations next year, preferably by the end of the mandate of the Commission," Barosso said.

The European Commission President had been meeting Croatian Prime Minister, Ivo Sanader, when he made the statement.

But the country has been locked in a dispute over its Protected Ecological Fishery Zone or ZERP.

ZERP regulates an area of sea in Croatia’s territorial and international waters in the Adriatic and came into force at the beginning of this year. Zagreb says the zone is intended to preserve fishing stocks and reduce pollution.

But Italy and Slovenia say the area has to be shared between the three countries and have accused Croatia of breaking European Union regulations.

Slovenia has been using its clout as current holder of the EU Presidency to block Croatia's EU accession bid.

However on Thursday the Croatian Parliament voted to allow fishermen from EU countries to enter the zone hence opening the way to speed up the process of talks.

"I therefore confirm that in this autumn’s Enlargement package, the Commission will present an indicative timetable for the technical conclusion of the negotiations in 2009, provided a number of conditions are met by Croatia”, Barosso stated.

In meantime, Croatia has to fulfil some conditions, such as presenting the conditional road map, which relates to Croatia meeting all open benchmarks by June 2008.

Furthermore, the country has to comply with all legal obligations under the Stabilisation and Association Agreement; it must continue to comply with the general conditions of the Stabilisation and Association Process, as well as improve its management of EU financial assistance under the PHARE and IPA programmes.