Caspian Energy (CE): Your Excellency, Croatia became the 28th member of the EU in July of the past year. Which economic and social transformations will be made in the country so that to comply with the EU standards? 

Dr. Ivo Josipović, President of the Republic of Croatia: Croatia, being a member state, already meets all the EU standards.

Namely, Croatia’s wish to join the European Union was voiced as early as its cry for its independence in 1991. However, our membership required that a certain set of preconditions that have to be met. The acceding process of the countries of the Western Balkans actually began at the Zagreb Summit in 2000, which affirmed that all the countries of this region were potential candidates for the EU membership through Stabilisation and Association Agreements. Croatia applied in 2003, and became a candidate a year later, starting the negotiations process in 2005. Demanding accession negotiations basically entailed a whole set of reforms, both social and economic, that needed to be carried out before their conclusion in 2011, and it is precisely those reforms that ensured that we were entirely ready to become the EU member, i.e. meet all of the EU standards beforehand.