WRITTEN QUESTION E-0740/03 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Croatia's application to join the EU in 2007 at the same time as Romania and Bulgaria.
Date: 2003-03-11
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Croatia, accession criteria, accession to the European Union, cooperation policy, refugee

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Commission can allow aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty (1). However, any such aid must
be notified to the Commission and assessed for each individual beneficiary bank. General aid schemes for
companies in difficulty are only permitted for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.

In addition to the issues to be considered under the Union State aid rules, if the creation of a ‘Bad Bank’
were to involve an agreement between undertakings, Article 81 of the EC Treaty might apply. The
Commission has at this stage no factual elements that this is the case.

(1) Community guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty, OJ C 288, 9.10.1999.

(2004/C 51 E/046)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0740/03

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(11 March 2003)

Subject: Croatia’s application to join the EU in 2007 at the same time as Romania and Bulgaria

1.
Does the Commission consider that the wish expressed by the Croatian government on 21 February
2003 that Croatia should join the EU in 2007 along with Romania and Bulgaria is technically feasible,
given that negotiations on accession and transposition of the Community ‘acquis’ have not started?

2.
Does the Commission consider that the fact that the neighbouring states of Slovenia and Hungary
will most probably be members of the EU at that time and that Croatia is economically stronger and has
sea ports that are used by other Member States is a reason why Croatia should be admitted to the EU
earlier than most of the other states of the former Yugoslav federation?

3. What solution does the Commission envisage for the fact that most of the Serbian minority, who
were invited to settle in Croatia centuries ago by the Austro-Hungarian empire to defend Croatia’s border
areas (Krajina) against the Turkish military threat from neighbouring Bosnia-Herzegovina, fled Croatia in
1995 and do not feel it is safe to return there, as a result of which this population group has fallen from
12 % to 4,5 % of the total population since 1991?

4. What solution does the Commission see for the claims made by the Croatian opposition and a very
large section of Croatian public opinion on the south-west area of neighbouring Bosnia-Herzegovina
bordering Dalmatia which is predominantly populated by Croats, and does it consider that it is really
possible for one section of the Croat population soon to live within the EU area and another outside it?

5. When will Croatia be told when and under what conditions EU accession is a real possibility and
what is the anticipated date of accession?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(30 April 2003)

1.
On 21 February 2003, Croatia submitted an application for Union-membership. In accordance with
Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union, this application was addressed to the Council of the Union.

The next step in the process will be that, at one of its next meetings, the Council is likely to ask the
Commission to prepare an Opinion (‘Avis’) on Croatia’s application. From the moment the Commission
receives this request and based on previous experience, it is expected that the preparation of the Opinion
will take about a year. The Council, after analysing the Commission’s Opinion and its recommendation,
may decide whether or not to open accession negotiations, based on the fulfilment of the necessary criteria
by Croatia.

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At this stage, the Commission cannot speculate on a timetable beyond these next steps, as it will depend
on the pace of Croatia’s political, economic, legal and administrative reform process.

The conditions for joining the Union are established in Articles 49 and 6 of the Treaty on European
2.
Union and further set out by the European Council of Copenhagen in June 1993. The fulfilment of these
criteria and Croatia’s progress in the Stabilisation and Association Process will determine when Croatia will
be able to join the Union. These criteria will be the same for all countries of the Stabilisation and
Association Process. The pace of their progress towards the Union will depend on their own merits.

The obligations on Croatia concerning the return of refugees and displaced persons stem from the
3.
Dayton/Paris Agreements. These obligations constitute also a cornerstone of
the Stabilisation and
Association Process for the region. The Commission has on various occasions reminded Croatia that
efforts to facilitate the return of refugees need to be intensified. Any solution needs to address both the
complex issues of housing (reconstruction of destroyed property, repossession of occupied property and
the resolution of the problem of lost tenancy/occupancy rights) and the lack of economic opportunities in
the return areas. According to ODPR (1), there were 9 640 minority returns to Croatia in 2002. According
to UNHCR a total of 228 000 refugees from Croatia remain displaced in Serbia and Montenegro and about
22 000 in BiH.

According to the Croatian Office for Displaced Persons and Refugees (ODPR), a total of 305 379 people
returned to their homes from within (internally displaced persons (cid:1) IDP’s) or outside (refugees) Croatia up
to the end of 2002.

207 320 IDP’s are of Croat ethnicity. 98 058 persons are of Serb ethnicity of which 69 427 came from
FRY and 5 963 from BiH (i.e. a total of 75 390 refugees), and 22 668 IDP’s from the Danube region.

The return figures for 2002 are approximately 11 000 refugees (all Serbs) and 6 557 DP’s (both Serbs and
Croats). The corresponding figures in 2001 were the same for refugees (Serbs) and 10 846 IDP’s (both
Serbs and Croats). According the ODPR, there are currently 8 055 refugees (7 342 from BiH and 713 from
Kosovo) and 17 100 DP’s (13 748 Croats and 3 352 Serbs) in Croatia.

The Community has provided financial support to Croatia for post war reconstruction and refugee return
since 1996. These programmes were initially designed to deliver emergency aid in the immediate post-war
period. From 1996-2000 EUR 61,5 million were spent primarily for the reconstruction of housing units.
The CARDS Programme is now increasingly focussing on a longer-term approach trying to foster socio-
economic development in the war affected areas. For the period 2001-2004, EUR 65,2 million are
allocated to refugee return within the overall CARDS national programme for Croatia.

4.
The Commission cannot speculate on the internal positions of the political parties of Croatia.
However, the Commission would like to recall that Croatia is party to the Dayton/Paris Peace Agreements
which guarantee the territorial
integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Also, under the Stabilisation and
Association Agreement (SAA), Croatia is committed to regional co-operation and the development of good
neighbourly relations. There is no doubt that the respect of existing borders forms part of this obligation.

The Union is not founded on the principle of ethnicity but on the principles of liberty, democracy, respect
for human rights and fundamental
the
freedoms, and the rule of
population of either Croatia or Bosnia and Herzegovina will therefore have no influence on the date when
these countries will be able to join the Union. Furthermore, there are numerous (cid:1) past and current (cid:1)
examples in the Union of ethnic groups living partly inside and partly outside the Union.

law. The ethnic composition of

The Feira European Council of June 2000 gave all countries of the Stabilisation and Association
5.
Process,
including Croatia, the status of potential candidates to the Union. This commitment is also
recalled in the SAA signed with Croatia in October 2001. Therefore, accession is a real possibility for

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Croatia, subject to its fulfilling the conditions laid down in the Treaty on European Union, the criteria
defined by the European Council of Copenhagen in June 1993 and the successful implementation of the
SAA, notably regional co-operation.

As indicated in the reply to question 1, at this stage, the Commission cannot speculate on any possible
date for accession. The pace of Croatia’s political, economic, legal and administrative reform process will
determine when the country will be able to fulfil the above mentioned criteria.

(1) The Croatian Ministry for Public Works, Reconstruction and Construction, Department for Expellees, Returnees and

Refugees.

(2004/C 51 E/047)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0748/03

by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Council

(11 March 2003)

Subject: Abduction of civilians in Grozny (Chechnya)

According to the Society for Russian-Chechen Friendship, the following abductions of Chechen civilians
have been reported since January 2003:
in Grozny and suburbs: on 29 December 2002: Ramzan
Gamarigov (35) (resident at 4, Lomonosov Street); on 3 January 2003: Mr Mashaev and three of his sons
(resident in Yablochnaya Street) and Mr Yunus Alimukaev; on 4 January 2003: Mr Ismail Makhmudov (26)
(resident at 33, Gudermeskaya Street); on 14 January 2003: Mrs Angela Shakhmurzaeva (31), Mr Hassan
Ustarkhanov (28), Mr Aslan Baisultanov and Mr Aslan Musaev (25) (all resident at 23, Rosa Luxemburg
Street); on 3 February 2003: Mr Hanpasha Bukhaev (30) (resident in Noviye Aldy, Grozny);
in Urus-
Martan: on 29 January 2003: Mrs Seda Tsagaraeva; in Achkhoi-Martan and district: on 15 January 2003:
Mr Yaragi Ismailov (45), Mr Khizri Ismailov (40), Mr Aslan Ismailov (22), Mr Aslambek Ismailov (20) and
Mr Yusup Daidaev (50) (all resident at 22, Orekhovaya Street); on 28 January 2003: Mr Taus Murtasov
(30) (resident in the village of Orekhovo near Achkhoi-Martan); in Vedeno and district: on 27 January
2003: Mr Shamil Khabusiev (45) (resident in the village of Neftyanka); in Shali and district: on 17 January
2003: Islam Ibragimov (21) (resident in Shali) and Apti Saidulaev (25) (resident in Shali); on 4 February
2003: Mr Idris A. Dakhaev (28) (resident in Serzhen-Yurt).

Is the Council aware of these recent abductions of civilians? Is the Council making any attempt to monitor
the number of people abducted, as well as the number of people executed after being abducted? In light of
the repeated war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Russian forces in Chechnya, does
the Council intend to undertake any political and judicial initiatives in the competent international bodies
such as the Council of Europe and the UN Commission on Human Rights?

Reply

(29 September 2003)

The Council has received no detailed information about the cases of civilian abductions mentioned in the
question. The Council naturally follows closely the situation in the Chechen Republic of the Russian
Federation. It does not, however, have the means to carry out detailed monitoring on the ground. For such
information, the Council looks to the Council of Europe.

The Council raises the question of human rights abuses and the rule of law in the Chechen Republic on all
possible occasions when meeting the Russian authorities. EU concerns were raised at the Cooperation
Council with Russia on 15 April 2003, and were on the EU’s agenda for the St Petersburg Summit on
31 May.

Moreover, the EU will continue to raise its concerns in the framework of international organisations such
as the OSCE and the UN. In this connection, the EU tabled a resolution at the UN Commission on Human