Croatia cleared for EU membership in 2013

[holy king]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13725558

Croatia cleared for EU membership in 2013

Croatia has been given the go-ahead to become a member of the European Union, and is likely to join in 2013, the European Commission has said.

Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said he would recommend EU nations wrap up talks and prepare to greet Croatia as the 28th member state.

Talks on reforming the Croatian judiciary, a very sensitive area, had been successful, Mr Barroso said.

Croatia will be the second ex-Yugoslav country after Slovenia to join.

"The European Commission has just proposed... to close the last four chapters in the accession negotiations with Croatia," Mr Barroso said in a statement.

"Today is a historic day for Croatia and the European Union."
'Reinvigorate efforts'

Mr Barroso described the move as "a signal to the rest of south-eastern Europe".

"I... hope that Croatia's progress is an inspiration to our other partners to reinvigorate their reform efforts and to deliver to the benefit of their people."

Two other countries of the former Yugoslav federation, Montenegro and Macedonia, are currently candidates for membership.

Serbia is expected to start membership talks next year, after the arrest last month of former Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic on war crimes charges removed the biggest obstacle Belgrade faced to joining the EU.

The four outstanding chapters in Croatia's talks included the judiciary and competition issues.

Correspondents say judicial issues are especially sensitive because the last EU countries to join - Bulgaria and Romania in 2007 - failed to meet full EU standards in that area.

The EU imposed a monitoring mechanism on them to deal with the shortcomings.

Croatia applied for EU membership in 2003 and formal negotiations began in 2005.

But the BBC's Mark Lowen, reporting from Zagreb, says progress was marred by initially sluggish co-operation with the UN War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague, as government officials appeared slow to hand over documents relating to the 1990s war of independence.

Corruption and organised crime have also dented the country's image, he adds.

EU leaders are expected to approve Croatia's accession at a summit on 23-24 June.

good move/bad move for croatia/the eu? or simply desperate business as usual in the face of collapse?

 

[Shekwan]

I don't know much about Croatian domestic politics to say whether its a good idea for them. Its bad for the EU though. Its too large as it is, I don't think its good for the EU to add more member states.

That said, the EU is so big, does it really matter if Croatia joins?

Oh yeah, and boo, more irresponsible mediteranean types. And look they're Catholic too. How long 'til they're bailed out?

 

[Jehoshua]

I would be apprehensive as the EU seems at times to attempt to enforce the dominant ideological principles of the dominant european hegemons to the extent of potentially challenging the principle of State Sovereignty. An example would be the fit the eurocrats had over the new Hungarian constitution. However saying that there is a lot of good that Croatia could bring to the EU that is praiseworthy should it join, It just depends on how they interact upon gaining membership with the whole.

 

[Shekwan]

Well of course, the ultimate goal should be replacing state sovereignty with EU sovereignty.

The idea is for nobody to find out about it until its already happened.

 

[Silurian]

This is good news

 

[Jehoshua]

Well of course, the ultimate goal should be replacing state sovereignty with EU sovereignty.

The idea is for nobody to find out about it until its already happened.

Exactly why I don't like the EU. I disagree entirely with the idea of forgeighting state sovereignty within the EU. Especially considering its current ideological nature and its many, problems.

 

[Silurian]

Exactly why I don't like the EU. I disagree entirely with the idea of forgeighting state sovereignty within the EU. Especially considering its current ideological nature and its many, problems.

Why are USA #1 so against EU getting bigger.

 

[aronnax]

The EU needs to solve its debt issues before it lets in another country with a 2 billion dollar annual deficit and a debt that is reaching half the country's GDP.

 

[Silurian]

Why do you assume that the EU will take on Croatia's debt.

This will not happen

 

[Godwynn]

Good for Croatia and Europe.

They'll probably be better members of the EU than other current ones.

 

[warpus]

"Today is a historic day for Croatia and the European Union."

I applaud the use of the proper article here (a, not an)

Also applaud Croatia's clearance for membership

 

[Virote_Considon]

Good for both Croatia and the rest of Europe. Europe unite as one!

Exactly why I don't like the EU. I disagree entirely with the idea of forgeighting state sovereignty within the EU. Especially considering its current ideological nature and its many, problems.

Europe is one nation, one peoples, one culture, and thus only needs one state. The artificial internal barriers must be wrecked down.

 

[warpus]

Europe is one nation, one peoples, one culture, and thus only needs one state. The artificial internal barriers must be wrecked down.

I disagree with "one culture" and "one peoples".. and even "one nation", but with the rest I agree

 

[Virote_Considon]

What's there to disagree with? The root culture is the same; the outlook, the lense we look through. The "higher" culture is distinguished, sure, but that happens within pretty much any nation any number of times.

 

[warpus]

What's there to disagree with? The root culture is the same; the outlook, the lense we look through. The "higher" culture is distinguished, sure, but that happens within pretty much any nation any number of times.

Well, I look at it from the point of view of someone born in Poland. I look at Portugese or Icelandic or even Bosnian culture and I see it as very alien to that of Polish culture. With that in mind I can't possibly say that Europe has "one culture". It has many cultures, with many similarities, but also many differences.

Same for "one people".

As for "one nation", I consider something like Catalonia as a nation within Spain. So, Europe will never be "one nation".

 

[Silurian]

Eu #1

 

[SG-17]

The only real split in European culture is between romantic, germanic, and slavic. But the US has as great of divides in culture and we work well as a federal union.

 

[Shekwan]

Exactly why I don't like the EU. I disagree entirely with the idea of forgeighting state sovereignty within the EU. Especially considering its current ideological nature and its many, problems.

Do you think the national governments are doing that stellar a job?

I don't see why it wouldn't be worth trying.

 

[Virote_Considon]

Well, I look at it from the point of view of someone born in Poland. I look at Portugese or Icelandic or even Bosnian culture and I see it as very alien to that of Polish culture. With that in mind I can't possibly say that Europe has "one culture". It has many cultures, with many similarities, but also many differences.

People from Poland look at it from the point of view of a culture rooted in Christianity to some significant degree, with an Indo-European language who's verbal concepts are often transcribed to those of other Indo-European languages. The former is true of all Europeans (even in the predominantly Muslim countries of Bosnia and Albania), and even when the latter are not in effect (such as Finns, Hungarians, Basques, etc.), their cultures are so influenced by those around them that they still build upon a European "base".

Same for "one people".

What peoples would you say there are?

As for "one nation", I consider something like Catalonia as a nation within Spain. So, Europe will never be "one nation".

I would regard those as sub-nationals - differing identities within the nation.

 

[Quackers]

The only real split in European culture is between romantic, germanic, and slavic. But the US has as great of divides in culture and we work well as a federal union.

What? Can you explain this?