“Croatia will enter the EU on 1 July. This is good news for us in Croatia, because it is a confirmation of everything that we have gone, primarily in changes and reforms”, said the Vice-President for Croatia on internal, foreign and European politics Neven Mimica yesterday in Sarajevo.
He was they keynote speaker at the VII conference of the parliamentary committee for European integration of the countries participating in the Stabilization and Association Process of South East Europe (COSAP) on the topic of “Transformational Power of EU integration-Positive Experiences and Their Applicability in Countries of the Region”.
“Today Croatia is different, after 12 years of its first contractual relationship with the EU from the signing of the Agreement on Stabilization and Association. It is a better country than it was 12 years ago’’, said Mimica.
Therefore, he added that EU accession is definitely good news for us, but it is also good news for the EU.
According to him, Croatian accession is good news for countries in the region, because all Western Balkan countries because it represents motive, courage and confirmation that reforms have benefits and improve the internal situation in a country.
Mimica said that this is what EU membership brings, as well as a better situation in the society of a country and better life standards for citizens in all countries in the region.
“Due to this fact, Croatian accession will have a positive reflection for the further development of the overall stabilization and European perspective for countries in the region’’, said Mimica and added that they have learned a lot in these past 12 years.
He added that he is glad that he could say today that not only did the EU learn, because the EU and European Commission like to say that they always learn from the process of enlargement and negotiation.
“In this process we have also learned. It is maybe easier today to summarize these advantages in three fundamental areas of knowledge obtained in these 12 years, which bring political stability in a country. Political stability is a long-term benefit that is so necessary to countries in this region that have undergone difficult and tragic times’’, said Mimica.
The second long-term advantage is sustainable competitiveness in the market, because with a common and single market, with rules for a functioning EU market, member states have as their major goal to increase competitiveness of the national economy, whether it is for small or large individual companies.
“Competitiveness in the economy is everything. Either you are competitive or you are not. You are either capable of dealing with competitiveness with those who are with you under the same market conditions or you flounder. Due to this, EU membership helps establish and strengthen that competitiveness, and this is a huge advantage’’, said Mimica.
The third advantage is the internal democratic system, or an internal order of the legal system, the rule of law, all that means security, legal security for citizens, for companies, for all those who live and work in the country. This is also a huge thing for countries in the region that are in transition and is a huge advantage, said Mimica.
“Today we are in a situation to say that the process of EU accession was more important than simply entering the EU, because the accession and negotiation process is a process of change, reform, transformation of society and economy and the legal system, institutions of all countries, as well as the transformation of people and their way of thinking and acting’’, said Mimica.
He added that due to this, this transformative effect is a process through which all go through on the path to EU membership has the most important, time-tested and most striking advantages on the overall situation in a society.
“I would say that the real beauty, the real strength in the process of enlargement is in reforms and that is what led us to this path, on a path in which we had the same political consensus of all political parties and that is one more lesson that we have learned and that we would like to share with all other countries in the region’’, said Mimica.
He added that the more capable a country is of producing stronger political consensus, political understanding for changes, for transition, reforms, European perspective, the country will be better capable to pass through the process quicker and easier.
“This process is not in competition with others. It is not a competition between countries of who would reach the objectives first, to EU membership. For us it was a competition with ourselves’’, said Mimica.
He said that as an EU member state, we would be one of the most vociferous advocates of EU enlargement.
