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One More Member?

EU Prepared to Embrace Croatia

Despite Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty, the push for EU enlargement goes on. The European Commission has held out the prospect of membership to Croatia and expects accession talks to conclude in 2009.

The European enlargement process reached something of an impasse this year when the Irish rejected the Lisbon Treaty. And some big member states like France and Germany now argue that the setback means that the bloc cannot take in any new members.

On Wednesday, however, the European Commission said that Croatia for one could wrap up entry talks with the EU as soon as next year. The EU executive was presenting its first annual enlargement report since the Irish referendum that plunged the bloc into disarray in June.

Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said that Croatia could conclude talks with Brussels next year if it made the necessary reforms. "It is not a blank check for Croatia. The ball is firmly in Croatia's court," Rehn said. The report says that the country needs to deal with organized crime and corruption and overhaul its subsidies for shipyards and the steel industry.

The annual report is the latest signal that, despite enlargement fatigue, the EU may expand one more time to allow Croatia in following the historic eastern enlargement from 2004 to 2007 which saw 12 new members join. While the report gives no actual date, EU diplomats told Reuters that the former Yugoslav state could become a member by 2011.

Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader welcomed the report. "What matters is that EU membership is no longer beyond the horizon, but is something visible," he told reporters at a news conference in Zagreb.

Rehn was critical of leading states including France and Germany who have said there can be no further expansion of the EU until the bloc ratifies the Lisbon Treaty. "I hope that (the Lisbon issue) will not be used as an argument to slow down the accession process of countries like Croatia, which is overall making good progress," he said.

The commissioner called on the Irish people to ratify the treaty "to make the EU function better and give us a stronger voice in the world to defend European values and our citizens' interests." EU leaders are due to meet in December to discuss Ireland's "no" vote, and Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen is to present ideas on how the treaty might still be passed by his country.

The treaty had sought to streamline EU decision-making and would have granted more power to the European Parliament.

The EU report also addressed the accession hopes of other countries -- Turkey, Serbia, Albania, Macedonia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Kosovo. The Commission regards the candidates' progress on the required reforms as limited. "Their advance toward EU membership can be accelerated, provided they make the necessary conditions," Rehn said.

smd -- with wire reports