Intensive work is under way in the Council of the European Union to hammer out common negotiating positions for the remaining policy chapters in accession negotiations with Croatia and there are indications that the negotiations will be finalised by the end of the month, a source from the Hungarian EU Presidency said on Wednesday.
"I am confident that the negotiations will be completed by the end of the Hungarian Presidency" and a recommendation from the European Council will be crucial for their conclusion, said the source. The source thus hinted that the last four chapters might not be closed at an intergovernmental accession conference scheduled for June 21, but in the week after a meeting of the European Council, which comprises EU heads of state or government, due to take place on June 23-24.
The European Council is expected to adopt a political decision on the conclusion of the negotiations and confirm July 1, 2013 as the accession date.
The Enlargement Working Group of the Council of the EU is working on harmonising common negotiating positions for the last four policy areas, after the European Commission submitted its draft positions last Friday saying that Croatia was ready to close the negotiations.
The matter was discussed by the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) on Tuesday and Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele was invited to the meeting to respond to questions regarding the Commission's recommendation for the closure of the last four chapters -- Chapter 23 (Judiciary and Human Rights), Chapter 8 (Competition Policy), Chapter 33 (Finance and Budgetary Provisions) and Chapter 35 (Other Issues).
