10-22-2009, 02:21 PM
Quote:The negotiations with Croatia had already made good progress. The Commission, however, criticized among others that the employment rate was low and the labour market inflexible. Croatia, however, would be a functioning market economy and was able to hold its ground against competitive pressure and the market forces within the Union. The high foreign debt and the high budget deficit are also problematic for the Commission. In accordance with EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Olli Rehn, improvements would also be required with respect to fighting criminality and corruption; however, one could also detect some progress. The target date for concluding the accession negotiations remains 2010.
Significantly more restrained were the Commission’s comments about Turkey. Although the political criteria would “still be sufficiently” fulfilled, for example with respect to freedom of opinion and freedom of the press, there was still a need for significant efforts to be made. Positively registered, however, was the progress regarding the relationships between military and civil sector as well as with respect to cultural rights. Turkey would be a functioning market economy; during the economic crisis, however, public expenditure had significantly increased. The unemployment rate had increased drastically. Also significant would be the fact that Turkey had signed the inter-governmental agreement in the construction of the Nabucco pipeline. Given the fact that only 11 of the 33 negotiation chapters are opened, no date has been set yet for concluding the accession negotiations.
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was granted candidate status in December 2005. A number of reforms had already been carried out, for example the reform of the justice system and of public administration. Progress had also been made in fighting corruption. According to the Commission, Macedonia also made headway in creating a functioning market economy. A serious problem, however, would still be the high rate of employment, in particular among young people and low-qualified workers. More efforts had to be made with regard to employment and social policy to be able to fulfil the obligations resulting from the EU Membership.
The three candidate countries are already receiving pre-accession aid. Between 2008 and 2014 about € 769 million pre-accession assistance have been made available to Croatia, about € 449 million for Macedonia and € 3.44 billion for Turkey.
The Commission sees progress made by the potential candidate countries Albania, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo with regard to political and economic criteria. However, there were hardly any indications that improvements had been achieved by Bosnia and Herzegovina. The inner political climate would be bad; it was, among others, pointed out that inflammatory speeches would still be made. One a positive note, however, one should mention the good cooperation with the International Court of Justice and the reform of public administration. The unemployment rate, however, would still be high and the informal sector would pose a great problem. No date has been set for opening accession negotiations with any of the potential candidate countries.
Welcome to the EU Croatia ^^
uper welcome aboard