The working group drawing up the accession treaty meets twice weekly to finalise the English draft of the treaty by early September, after which it needs to be approved by the ambassadors of the member states and then translated into all official languages of the EU.

The draft of the treaty in all the official languages should be finalised by early November, when it would be forwarded to the European Parliament for approval. The procedure in the European Parliament is expected to be completed by the beginning of December, after which it will be ready for signing. A date and venue of signing has not been set yet.

At the same time, talks are under way on monitoring Croatia from the end of accession negotiations on 30 June this year until EU entry on 1 July 2013. The first document the Commission will issue will be a regular progress report, due on 12 October. A year later, in the autumn of 2012, the Commission will publish a comprehensive monitoring report. For three policy areas -- Competition, Judiciary and Fundamental Rights, and Freedom, Justice and Security, the Commission will submit reports every six months.

After the accession treaty is signed, Croatian representatives will participate in the work of European institutions as observers. Croatia will have 12 deputies in the European Parliament who will be allowed to take part in discussions as observers, but will not be allowed to vote.