The head of the European Union Delegation in Croatia, Paul Vandoren, on Tuesday called on the Croatian government to conclude contracts on the privatisation of the shipyards with potential investors in order to save the shipbuilding sector.
I recommend to the Croatian government to conclude contracts on the privatisation of the shipyards so that the investors would have a chance to invest their capital and help save the shipyards. It would be a pity if these bids failed, because there will not be many such offers, Vandoren said in response to questions at a panel discussion in Split, organised as part of a public debate on Croatia's EU membership.
Regardless of the fact that negotiations on Croatia's EU membership are over, we are still waiting for some of the policy chapters to be completed, and one of them is Chapter 8 which deals with competition, Vandoren said.
He said that it was up to citizens of Croatia to decide in the January 22 referendum whether or not they would support Croatia's EU entry. The EU will respect the decision of Croatian citizens in the referendum, whatever it may be, he added.
Vandoren said that it was in Croatia's interests to become a member the EU, and that Croatia could be a bridge between the present 27 members and the countries in the region aspiring to join the bloc. In globalised relations, each member of the EU is better protected than each country individually, he said.
When asked if Croatia would be able to voluntarily leave the Union just as it was voluntarily entering it, Vandoren said that the Lisbon Treaty allowed the member states to leave the EU.
