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Books on Croatia
REPUBLICAN REFERENCE
Area (sq.km)
56,542
Population
4,496,869
Capital
Zagreb
Currency
Kuna
President
Stipe Mesic
Private sector
% of GDP
55%
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Update No: 107- (28/04/06)
Croatia on the way into the EU
"Croatia is undoubtedly on the path that leads to full membership of the EU,"
European Parliament President Josep Borrell said in an address to the Croatian
Parliament in Zagreb on April 12th.
Borrell, who was on a two-day official visit to Croatia, said the European
Parliament supported Croatia's full membership of the European Union (EU). There
could not have been a better Easter present for Zagreb.
"It is in the interest of the European people that this part of Europe is
politically stable, economically developed and integrated with Europe,"
Borrell said. "Croatia must apply all regulations from its Stabilisation
and Association Agreement with the EU," Borrell stated, adding that this
meant rooting out all forms of discrimination against EU citizens wishing to buy
real estate in Croatia.
The Stabilisation and Association Council in Luxembourg on April 10th said
Croatia had continued meeting political criteria, adding, however, that the
country was not meeting its obligations from Article 60 of the SAA, which
regulates the sale of real estate to EU citizens. Under the regulation, after
the expiration of a four-year transition period on 1st February 2009, Croatia
should make the right of EU citizens to buy property in Croatia equal to that of
its own citizens.
Unfortunately Italian mafia groups have long been eyeing Croatia as a good place
to penetrate, just like Slovenia. Brussels needs to be alert to this sensitive
aspect of the matter.
Speaking of relations with neighbouring countries and regional cooperation,
Borrell went back to emollient generalities in saying that relations with
neighbours must be regulated through bilateral dialogue. "You must not
think that the European Union will do that for you," he added.
The initiative aimed at strengthening regional cooperation is not an attempt to
renew the former Yugoslavia, the EP president said. "You must do all you
can to encourage progress in neighbouring countries because stability of the
region is in Croatia's interest," he said, as if anyone would doubt it. His
whole admirable address recalls what Macmillan said when British Foreign
Minister in the mid-1950s; speaking on diplomatic matters in an official
capacity involves one in trying to avoid two pitfalls, being so platitudinous as
to be boring - or so indiscreet as to be dangerous!
Borrell called on Croatia to continue implementing reforms important for the
functioning of the rule of law. He welcomed the CEFTA meeting held in Bucharest
in early April, saying that foundations for a new free trade zone were laid at
that meeting.
Present in parliament during Borrell's speech were the entire Croatian cabinet,
members of the negotiating team and representatives of the diplomatic corps in
Croatia. After the address, Borrell and Parliament Speaker Vladimir Seks gave
statements to the press.
Sanader in Rome announces resolution on Croatia's accelerated joining EU
There could be no better place for a Croatian leader to espouse the European
cause than the very city where the Treaty of Rome was signed nearly fifty years
ago. Nobody in those far-off days could have envisaged an independent Croatia
joining the mature EU; but it is about to happen. Croatians, moreover, are by
and large devout Roman Catholics.
The Croatian Prime Minister and Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) president, Ivo
Sanader, who was attending a congress of the European People's Party (EPP) in
Rome, said in mid-April that the HDZ, together with several other people's
parties from Europe, had moved and sent into urgent procedure a resolution on
accelerating the process of Croatia's joining the EU.
Sanader told Croatian reporters covering his participation in the 17th EPP
congress that this was a so-called urgent resolution, an instrument used only in
exceptional situations, adding that it was important that the political bureau
of the EPP had unanimously backed the proposal.
"The congress is voting on the resolution and if it adopts the document it
will mean that all parties belonging to the EPP family, the strongest group in
the European Parliament, will not bring Croatia's status in question in the
future but the only option will be the country's full membership of the EU,"
Sanader said. The resolution clearly requests that each country be assessed
individually in the negotiations process, he added.
Sanader told reporters that in his speech before the congress he would reiterate
Croatia's devotion to EU values and stress that after it competed the
negotiations in a couple of years, the country would be ready to join the bloc.
"Then we will expect a positive decision on Croatia's full membership
despite the fact that Europe is currently facing a crisis and that the process
of further enlargement is being discussed," Sanader said.
He said there was no danger for Croatia to get stuck in a group of the so-called
privileged partners, but stressed that one should always remain active on the
diplomatic and political front.
Papal visit mooted
In the afternoon, the Croatian PM was received by Pope Benedict XVI, as a
guest at an audience for a delegation of the parliamentary deputies of the EPP
group. Sanader said that the meeting was pleasant and that he had a chance to
talk to the Holy Father for several minutes.
"I officially invited him to visit Croatia which he accepted but could not
give a specific date," Sanader said. There is no doubt that this would be a
great success in devoutly Roman Catholic Croatia.
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AGRICULTURE
Government and farmers reach agreement
The Croatian government and farmers recently signed an agreement on incentives
for agriculture and the use of state-owned farmland, Hina News Agency reported.
The government will pay nearly 80 million Euro in production incentives in two
instalments by mid-April, Agriculture Minister, Petar Cobankovic, told reporters
after the meeting. It was agreed that a separate law would be drafted to grant
long-term concessions to farmers for the use of state-owned agricultural land,
which would come into force on January 1st 2008. The present Agricultural Land
Act would remain in effect until then. The talks also focused on the existence
of a black market for agricultural products in the country, and Cobankovic said
that if that problem were solved there would be fewer demands for incentives.
The head of the National Farmers' Federation, Darko Grivicic, said that about 90
per cent of the farmers' demands had been dealt with at the talks.
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ENERGY
Gas Pipeline to be completed by end 2006
The Croatian company, Plinacro, and the Austrian-Italian consortium,
Habau-Ghizzoni, signed a contract on the construction of the last section of a
gas pipeline running from the northern Adriatic port of Pula to Karlovac near
Zagreb, Croatia, recently, New Europe reported.
The contract refers to the construction of a terminal in Pula and a 13-kilometre
pipeline from the terminal to the block station Bateli, Plinacro reported.
Construction works will start on April 3, and since this is the last agreed
section which should be built in six months, the Pula-Karlovac gas pipeline will
be completed in early October, the company said. Following its completion,
connecting, testing, technical check-ups and adjustment to the existing gas
supply system and connections to gas fields in the northern Adriatic will be
carried out. Works on the 190-kilometre, 90 million Euro gas pipeline started in
mid-January and will be carried out in four stages. The Habau-Ghizzoni
consortium is building three sections and the Croatian consortium one section of
the pipeline. The pipeline will ensure direct supply of natural gas from gas
fields in the northern Croatian Adriatic to Istria, Primorje-Gorski Kotar and
Karlovac counties. It will also supply gas to Lika and Dalmatia counties at a
later stage.
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FOREIGN DEBT
Croatian foreign debt soars, driven by spending
Croatia's foreign debt grew by another 680 million Euro in the first two months
of 2006, bringing the total to 26.2 billion, the business daily Poslovni Dnevnik
reported, cited by Deutsche-Presse-Agentur (dpa).
The debt-to-gross domestic product ratio is now 84.2 per cent, pushing Croatia
into the bracket of highly indebted countries, it said. The state has cut its
share in the foreign debt from 31.8 in 2004 to 27.7 in 2005, while the share of
companies grew from 25.5 to 27.9 per cent. Banks own the largest chunk - 35.2
per cent - of the total foreign debt. They borrow abroad and offer credits at
home, reaping a profit on a difference in interest rates.
Despite a set of restrictive measures that made the price of borrowing more
expensive, the demand for credits in Croatia remained undampened, prompting the
central bank to plan more restrictions. The authorities are concerned over the
distribution of the foreign debt, as most of it went on spending - imports of
consumer goods - and least into investments.
Nevertheless, last year Croatia generated economic growth of 4.3 per cent, Prime
Minister, Ivo Sanader, said, citing preliminary data, Hina news agency reported.
He added that the economic growth rate in the last quarter of 2005 was 4.9 per
cent. According to official figures provided by the National Bureau of
Statistics, the economic growth rate in the first quarter of 2005 was 1.8 per
cent; in the second quarter it was 5.1 per cent and in the third 5.2 per cent.
Finance Minister, Ivan Suker, also cited positive economic trends, saying that
industrial production had increased 5.2 per cent in the last ten months and that
in the first three months of this year budget revenue rose 14 per cent over the
same period last year. He noted that the revenue growth was partly due to a
government crackdown on the grey economy. Suker said the budget deficit was
reduced from 3.7 billion crowns in the first three months of 2005 to 1.7 billion
crowns in the same period this year.
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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Economy minister announces internet portal for SMEs
An internet portal called "Business Navigator," intended for small and
medium-sized enterprises and foreign investors, will be launched this summer at
a national seminar on the economy and entrepreneurship, Croatian Economy
Minister, Branko Vukelic, said at a news conference recently, Hina News Agency
reported.
The portal will consist of four sections - a financial guide, a business
network, business centres and a section for foreign investors. The financial
guide will contain information on loan possibilities offered by business and
development banks, incentives offered by state institutions, guarantees provided
by the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Croatian Agency
for Small Businesses, EU funds, etc. The business guide will contain information
on companies offering 27 different business services needed by business people.
The section on business centres will offer information on institutions
facilitating business - industrial and free zones, entrepreneurship centres and
incubators, chambers and associations and their services. The section intended
for foreign investors will provide information on industrial areas with the
highest growth potential, as well as on tax benefits, legislation etc.
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RETAIL TRADE
Retail trade growth increases 3.6%
The retail trade growth in Croatia increased in January 2006, reaching 3.6 per
cent year on year, SEEurope reported.
The expansion of retail trade in the first month of 2006 was faster than it had
been a year earlier (when retail trade rose by 1.1 per cent year on year) as
well as in 2005 as a whole (2.8 per cent). Retail trade expansion was primarily
driven by increased purchases of gas, driven up by increased prices. Besides gas
sales, the other primary factors leading to faster retail trade expansion in
January was an increase in pharmaceutical and drug sales.
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