Croatia wins EU recognition of its language as membership beckons

Nov 5, 2010, 14:43 GMT

Brussels - Croatia completed another chunk of accession negotiations with the European Union Friday, bringing the country closer to membership and giving it - among other things - official EU recognition of its language.

The two sides finalized talks on a technical dossier - a 'chapter' in EU enlargement speak - on institutions, detailing the weight Croatia will carry once it becomes a member of the bloc.

'This is the type of chapter you don't close unless you are close to the finish line,' Zagreb's chief negotiator with the EU, Vladimir Drobnjak, told reporters.

As part of the deal, Croatian is to become the 24th official language of the EU. In addition, the country is to have 12 seats in the European Parliament, seven votes in European council decisions and one judge in the European Court of Justice.

The set-up would put Croatia on par with Ireland and Lithuania.

Talks were also concluded Friday on the free movement of capital and transport chapters, meaning that only 10 out of the 35 dossiers that make up the accession process remain to be finalised.

However, the country still has to fulfil EU criteria on some of the most complicated dossiers, dealing with competition policy, agriculture, fisheries, environment and the rule of law.

Drobnjak said the whole process would be concluded by July 2011, paving the way for Croatia to enter the EU within the following 18 months.

'2013 is absolutely realistic but it could be even shorter than that,' he said, referring to the entry date.

The European Commission's annual report on Croatia's progress is due out on Tuesday. No target date for its accession is expected to be announced in the paper.