Хорватияның Еуропалық Одаққа қосылуы

Accession of Croatia to the European Union

The most recent enlargement of the European Union saw Croatia become the European Union's 28th member state on 1 July 2013. The country applied for EU membership in 2003, and the European Commission recommended making it an official candidate in early 2004. Candidate country status was granted to Croatia by the European Council in mid 2004. The entry negotiations, while originally set for March 2005, began in October that year together with the screening process. The accession process of Croatia was complicated by the insistence of Slovenia, an EU member state(since 2004), that the two countries' border issues be dealt with prior to Croatia's accession to the EU. Croatian public opinion was generally supportive of the EU accession process, despite occasional spikes in euroscepticism. Croatia finished accession negotiations on 30 June 2011, and on 9 December 2011, signed the Treaty of Accession. A referendum on EU accession was held in Croatia on 22 January 2012, with 66% of participants voting in favour of joining the Union. The EU was thus at its largest territorial extent from 2013 until 2020, when the United Kingdom left the union.

Accession requirements included: judicial reform to strengthen the independence, accountability, impartiality, professionalism and efficiency of the judiciary; a crackdown on corruption and organised crime (this resulted in the conviction of former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader for taking bribes); strengthen the protection of minorities; settle outstanding refugee return issues; improve the protection of human rights.

Croatia had to extradite several of its citizens to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), a United Nations body, an issue that was often contentious in domestic politics. Croatia's relations with the ICTY had continually been cited by the EU officials as something that required further improvement. Ratification of the EU Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Croatia had been stalled because of this. The European Council, after its summit of 20 December 2004, set the following 17 March as the date to start entry negotiations, provided that Croatia continued to co operate fully with the ICTY. On 16 March 2005, the day before talks were to begin, the EU postponed the commencement of negotiations, because the ICTY prosecution assessed the Croatian efforts to capture the fugitive general Ante Gotovina (indicted by the ICTY for war crimes and crimes against humanity, but at large since 2001) as neither timely nor sufficient. On 7 December 2005, the Spanish police finally arrested Ante Gotovina with the help of the Croatian government on the Spanish island of Tenerife, located in the Canary Islands. He was brought to The Hague to be tried for war crimes. With the arrest of Ante Gotovina this issue was resolved, and entry negotiations began anew, after the certification of ICTY chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte that Croatia now fully cooperated with the ICTY. In April 2011, Croatian generals Gotovina and Markač were given extended prison sentences at the ICTY, which was widely perceived as unjust in the Croatian public. This caused a marked increase in opposition to the accession because, in the past, some countries like the Netherlands, conditioned their support for the Croatia's accession process with the continued Croatian co operation with the ICTY. On 16 November 2012, the ICTY Appeals Chamber acquitted generals Gotovina and Markač and ordered their immediate release.

Croatia has had long standing border issues with Slovenia, especially over the Piran Bay boundary. Between December 2008 and September–October 2009, Slovenia blocked Croatia's EU accession over these border issues. On 6 June 2010, Slovenia voted to accept the ruling of United Nations arbitrators on the dispute, removing this obstacle. Croatia has border disputes with Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro, but these countries are not European Union members and cannot directly block the accession process. In December 2008, Croatia and Montenegro agreed that the outstanding sea border issue between the two countries should be settled before an international court whose decision would be accepted in advance by the parliaments of the two countries.

Free acquisition of real estate by foreigners is a sensitive issue in Croatia. This matter particularly concerns Italians, especially in Istria. While it has some ties with Italy, the events surrounding World War II, when Istria changed hands between the Kingdom of Italy and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, remain pertinent. Numerous Italian politicians expressed their discontent concerning the inability of Italians to purchase land in Croatia, considering it discriminatory treatment and stating that the issue should be resolved as soon as possible. Croatia subsequently denied any discrimination, and said that Croatian legislation provided for the same treatment of all EU citizens concerning land ownership. In mid 2006, Croatia and Italy came to an agreement allowing Italian citizens to purchase land in Croatia and Croatian citizens to purchase land in Italy. Other EU members had to resolve similar issues before their accession to the EU. Examples of this include Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, and especially Malta.

Croatia was required to stop subsidising its shipbuilding industry, resulting in privatisations, closures and reduced production capacity. Following the events of the 1990s (dissolution of Yugoslavia and Croatian independence) and cheaper shipbuilding emerging on the Asian markets, Croatia's shipbuilding industry was not profitable with massive losses, resulting in government subsidies over the twenty years until privatisation talllying €3.75 billion.

Croatia applied for EU membership in 2003, and the European Commission recommended making it an official candidate in early 2004. Candidate country status was granted to Croatia by the European Council (the EU's heads of state and/or government) in mid 2004, but the date for the beginning of entry negotiations, while originally set for March 2005, was put off. In early March 2005, Croatia was formally warned by the EU that its failure to arrest the war crimes suspect Ante Gotovina would jeopardise the country's chances of starting the accession talks, in spite of Croatia insisting it was doing everything it could to find and arrest the fugitive and claiming that Gotovina was no longer in Croatia. In fact, the talks started in October 2005, shortly before Gotovina's arrest in Spain, which occurred in early December that year and was hailed by the EU as an important turning point for the whole region, as it turned "the page from the nationalist past to a European future". Before the start of negotiations with Croatia, the acquis was divided into 35 chapters, 4 more than the usual 31; the new chapters, previously part of the agricultural policy, are areas expected to be troublesome, as they were with the other applicants. Following the opening of accession negotiations on 3 October 2005, the process of screening 35 acquis chapters with Croatia was completed on 18 October 2006. Between December 2008 and October 2009, Slovenia blocked negotiations in 13 acquis chapters because of a border dispute with Croatia. In September 2009 it was announced that Slovenia would remove restraints on Croatia's negotiations with the EU without prejudice to the international mediation on the border dispute. Acquis chapterEC assessment at startCurrent situation Screening started Screening completed Chapter frozen Chapter unfrozen Chapter opened Chapter closed 1. Free Movement of Goods Considerable efforts needed Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 01 16 2006 02 24 – – 2008 07 25 2010 04 19 2. Freedom of Movement For Workers Considerable efforts needed Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 07 19 2006 09 11 – – 2008 06 17 2009 10 02 3. Right of Establishment & Freedom To Provide Services Considerable efforts needed Generally aligned with the acquis 2005 11 21 2005 12 20 – – 2007 06 26 2009 12 21 4. Free Movement of Capital Further efforts needed Generally aligned with the acquis 2005 11 25 2005 12 22 2008–12 2009–10 2009 10 02 2010 11 05 5. Public Procurement Considerable efforts needed Generally aligned with the acquis 2005 11 07 2005 11 28 – – 2008 12 19 2010 06 30 6. Company Law Further efforts needed Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 06 21 2006 07 20 2008–12 2009–10 2007 06 26 2009 10 02 7. Intellectual Property Law No major difficulties expected Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 02 06 2006 03 03 – – 2007 03 29 2008 12 19 8. Competition Policy Considerable efforts needed Generally aligned with the acquis 2005 11 08 2005 12 02 – – 2010 06 30 2011 06 30 9. Financial Services Considerable efforts needed Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 03 29 2006 05 03 – – 2007 06 26 2009 11 27 10. Information Society & Media No major difficulties expected Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 06 12 2006 07 14 – – 2007 07 26 2008 12 19 11. Agriculture & Rural Development Considerable efforts needed Generally aligned with the acquis 2005 12 05 2006 01 26 2008–12 2009–10 2009 10 02 2011 04 19 12. Food Safety, Veterinary & Phytosanitary Policy Considerable efforts needed Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 03 09 2006 04 28 2008–12 2009–10 2009 10 02 2010 07 27 13. Fisheries Further efforts needed Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 02 24 2006 03 31 2008–12 2010–02 2010 02 19 2011 06 06 14. Transport Policy Further efforts needed Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 06 26 2006 09 28 – – 2008 04 21 2010 11 05 15. Energy Further efforts needed Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 05 15 2006 06 16 –– 2008 04 21 2009 11 27 16. Taxation Considerable efforts needed Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 06 06 2006 07 12 2008–12 2009–10 2009 10 02 2010 06 30 17. Economic & Monetary Policy No major difficulties expected Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 02 16 2006 03 23 – – 2006 12 21 2008 12 19 18. Statistics No major difficulties expected Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 06 19 2006 07 18 2008–12 2009–10 2007 06 26 2009 10 02 19. Social Policy & Employment Considerable efforts needed Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 02 08 2006 03 22 – – 2008 06 17 2009 12 21 20. Enterprise & Industrial Policy No major difficulties expected Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 03 27 2006 05 05 – – 2006 12 21 2008 07 25 21. Trans European Networks No major difficulties expected Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 06 30 2006 09 29 2008–12 2009–10 2007 12 19 2009 10 02 22. Regional Policy & Coordination of Structural Instruments Considerable efforts needed Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 09 11 2006 10 10 2008–12 2009–10 2009 10 02 2011 04 19 23. Judiciary & Fundamental Rights Considerable efforts needed Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 09 06 2006 10 13 – – 2010 06 30 2011 06 30 24. Justice, Freedom & Security Considerable efforts needed Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 01 23 2006 02 15 2008–12 2009–10 2009 10 02 2010 12 22 25. Science & Research No major difficulties expected Generally aligned with the acquis 2005 10 20 2005 11 14 – – 2006 06 12 2006 06 12 26. Education & Culture No major difficulties expected Generally aligned with the acquis 2005 10 26 2005 11 16 – – 2006 12 11 2006 12 11 27. Environment Totally incompatible with acquis Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 04 03 2006 06 02 2008–12 2010–02 2010 02 19 2010 12 22 28. Consumer & Health Protection Further efforts needed Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 06 08 2006 07 11 –– 2007 10 12 2009 11 27 29. Customs Union Further efforts needed Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 01 31 2006 03 14 2008–12 2009–10 2006 12 21 2009 10 02 30. External Relations No major difficulties expected Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 07 10 2006 09 13 – – 2007 10 12 2008 10 30 31. Foreign, Security & Defence Policy No major difficulties expected Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 09 14 2006 10 06 2008–12 2010–04 2010 06 30 2010 12 22 32. Financial Control Further efforts needed Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 05 18 2006 06 30 – – 2007 06 26 2010 07 27 33. Financial & Budgetary Provisions No major difficulties expected Generally aligned with the acquis 2006 09 06 2006 10 04 – – 2007 12 19 2011 06 30 34. Institutions Nothing to adopt – – – – – 2010 11 05 2010 11 05 35. Other Issues Nothing to adopt – – – – – 2011 06 30 2011 06 30 Progress 33 out of 33 33 out of 33

Before accession to the European Union, Croatia was categorised as an Annex II country, which meant that Croatian citizens could stay in the Schengen Area without a visa for up to 90 days in a 180 day period. Croatian citizens were also able to stay without a visa in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland and Romania for up to 90 days in each country, as well as in the United Kingdom for up to 6 months. The general rule was that non EU citizens had to use a passport to enter EU member states. However, there was an exception to the Schengen Agreement rules for Croatian citizens. Based on the pre Schengen bilateral agreements between Croatia and neighbouring EU countries (Italy, Hungary and Slovenia), Croatian citizens were allowed to cross the border with only a Croatian national identity card (a passport was not obligatory). Many people living near the border crossed it several times a day (some work across the border, or own land on the other side of the border), especially on the border with Slovenia, which was unmarked for centuries as Croatia and Slovenia were both part of the Habsburg Empire (1527–1918) and Yugoslavia (1918–1991). Prior to Croatia's accession to the EU on 1 July 2013, an interim solution, which received permission from the European Commission, was found: every Croatian citizen was allowed to cross the Schengen border into Hungary, Italy or Slovenia with an ID card and a special border card that was issued by Croatian police at border exit control. The police authorities of Hungary, Italy or Slovenia would then stamp the special border card both on entry and exit. Croatian citizens, however, were not allowed to enter any other Schengen Agreement countries without a valid passport, although they were allowed to travel between Hungary, Italy and Slovenia. These arrangements were discontinued on 1 July 2013 when Croatia became an EU member state. Since then, Croatian citizens have been able to enter any EU member state using only an ID card.

In the run up to accession to the European Union, Croatia aligned its visa policy with that of the European Union. As a result of the new visa regime, some third country nationals (such as Russian and Turkish nationals) who were previously temporarily exempt from having to obtain a visa to visit Croatia were now subject to a visa requirement. However, to mitigate the effect of the re imposition of a visa regime on tourist numbers, the Croatian government has introduced a 'facilitated entry of aliens' procedure, exempting travellers who have a Schengen visa or residence permit from having to obtain an additional Croatian visa to visit Croatia until 31 December 2013. In addition, the Croatian government has extended the working hours and capacity of its foreign missions in countries such as Russia and Ukraine to ensure that applications for Croatian visas are processed more efficiently.

Upon Croatia's accession to the European Union on 1 July 2013, several countries and territories outside the European Union aligned the visa requirements imposed on Croatian citizens with those imposed on other EU citizens. For example, on 1 July 2013, Hong Kong extended the visa free period of stay for Croatian citizens from 14 days to 90 days in line with the visa free period of stay granted to other EU citizens, whilst New Zealand introduced a 90 day visa exemption for Croatian citizens. It is likely that these countries and territories amended their visa policy for Croatian citizens because of the European Union's visa reciprocity mechanism.

During June 2011 Croatia began with implementation of the projects and reforms required to join the Schengen Area by 2015. By joining the Schengen Area, border checks will be eliminated at the land border with Hungary and Slovenia, as well as at airports and ports for flights and ships to/from Schengen member states, thus facilitating the freer movement of persons between Croatia and the rest of the Schengen Area. The influx of refugees and migrants from Greece through North Macedonia and Serbia to Croatia and then to current Schengen member states like Slovenia, Austria and Hungary, as part of the 2015 European migrant crisis, led some to question whether there will be the political consensus necessary for further enlargement of the Schengen Area. In September 2015, Hungary threatened to veto Croatia's accession to the Schengen Area after it allowed migrants to transit the country into Hungary. Slovenia also suggested it could veto Croatia's accession to the Schengen Area as a result of its border dispute, though it ultimately did not. On 8 December 2022, the ministers of justice and home affairs representing their EU countries, called the Justice and Home Affairs Council, which is one of the configurations of the Council of the European Union, made the final decision to admit Croatia to the bloc. This went in to effect on 1 January 2023, which meant that checks on persons at internal land and sea borders between Croatia and the other countries in the Schengen area were lifted. Checks at internal air borders, meaning airports, were lifted on 26 March 2023, given the need for this to coincide with the dates of IATA summer/winter time schedule. From 1 January 2023, Croatia started issuing Schengen visas and be able to make full use of the Schengen Information System.

Croatia's accession to the EU obliges them to apply for membership in the European Economic Area (EEA). The Croatian government submitted their application on 13 September 2012, and membership negotiations started 15 March 2013 with the aim to enlarge both the EU and the EEA on the same date, 1 July 2013. However, this was not achieved. On 11 April 2014, the EU and its member states (including Croatia), Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein signed an agreement concerning the accession of Croatia to the EEA. It is yet to be ratified, but is provisionally applied with regards to Croatia. As of February 2024, the agreement has been ratified by 28 out of 30 parties.

Croatian public opinion was divided on EU accession. Opinion polling for the EU referendum showed the population was mostly in favour of joining. Public support ranged from a high of 80% to lows of 26–38%. Political analyst Višeslav Raos cited the economic problems within the EU among the factors: "[Croatians] know that the European Union is not a remedy to all economic and social problems. So the EU itself is in a sort of crisis, and that reflects on Croatia's accession."

Member countries Capital Population Area (km2) GDP (billion US$) GDP per capita (US$) Languages Zagreb 4,290,612 56,594 80.983 18,338 Croatian Accession countries 4,290,612 56,594 80.983 18,338 1 Existing members (2013) 503,492,041 4,454,237 15,821.00 31,607 EU28 (2013) 506,777,111 (+0.85%) 4,510,831 (+1.31%) 15,868.983 (+0.51%) 31,313.54 (−0.74%)