Complex sentence: Croatia applied for European Union (EU) membership in 2003, the European Commission recommended making it an official candidate in early 2004, and the European Council granted candidate country status to Croatia in mid- 2004.
Split into simpler sentences: Croatia applied for European Union (EU) membership in 2003, and the European Commission recommended making it an official candidate in early 2004. The European Council granted candidate country status to Croatia in mid- 2004.