Mr President, I have great pleasure in presenting the report on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between Croatia and the European Union to this part session of the European Parliament. Croatia has made considerable progress in the economic, the political and the social sector and the Stabilisation and Association Agreement is the next logical step. Allow me briefly to summarise these three main sectors. First, the economic sector. Obviously, huge efforts are still needed before the Croatian market functions in line with the acquis communautaire. However, efforts are clearly being made and the results of structural and economic reform can already be seen, especially in the transparent procedures being used for privatisation and the protection being offered to foreign investment. The Stability, or rather Stabilisation and Association Agreement, which provides for financial aid and general financial assistance through the relevant Community programmes, will strengthen this progress in the economic sector and speed up preparations for Croatia's accession to the European Union at a later date. The progress made by Croatia is evident not only in the economic sector but also in the political sector. The new coalition voted in during recent elections in Croatia has decided to put its money on democracy and the rule of law. This embracing of democracy and the rule of law go beyond mere words to daily actions: institutions are being created and legislation – such as the legislation on protection for refugees, the right to asylum and immigration – is being reformed. Also worth mentioning here are the attempt by certain representatives of the Croat community in Bosnia to destabilise the government in order to recreate the wartime statelet of Herzeg-Bosna and the government's compliance with the terms of the Dayton agreement and collaboration with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Progress has clearly also been made in the social sector and at this point, I need do no more than read you an extract from the conclusions of the Council of Europe: 'Croatia has made significant progress in fulfilling its commitments as a member of the international community, in particular with its ratification of the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, the European Charter of Local Self-Government and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.' With the changes and democratic developments in Yugoslavia, the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the European Union and the present motion for a resolution on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Croatia, there are good prospects for democratisation and stabilisation in the Western Balkans and Croatia can play a specific and decisive role here. The Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Croatia has come along at just the right time. Parliament also has cause to congratulate itself on rushing approval through before the end of the year. Just how right it was is confirmed by the summit in Nice which ended just yesterday morning. The following is an extract from the chapter describing the Western Balkans: “The Zagreb Summit of 24 November, which brought together for the first time countries in the region which had returned to democracy, welcomed the historic changes which have occurred in the Western Balkans, initially in Croatia and then in the FRY. ... It confirms that the process of stabilisation and association is at the heart of the Union’s policy vis-à-vis the five countries concerned, which each receive individual treatment.”

Political group: PSE