European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso welcomed on Monday Croatia's progress towards the European Union, saying that it was possible to wrap up the accession negotiations next year but that in its upcoming progress report, the Commission would not suggest any date.
The Croatian government has embarked on important reforms and I would like to applaud Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor's determination on this path. The accession negotiations are proceeding steadily, Barroso said after meeting with Kosor in Brussels.
Asked if in its November 9 progress report on accession candidates the Commission would mention a date for the completion of the negotiations, Barroso said that it would not, adding that EU countries had decided earlier on, unrelated to Croatia, that no dates would be given before the negotiations were over.
That has nothing to do with Croatia's progress. Things are going well, Croatia is making steady progress in the negotiations, but at this stage we cannot commit to a date, not because there is no progress on Croatia's part, but because we believe that substance is more important than deadlines. I want to send out the message that the Commission wants to step up the process, but that this now depends mainly on Croatia, said Barroso.
