Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the EU and Croatia

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
The Commission Communication of 26.05.1999 on the Stabilisation and Association Process
with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia and Albania 1 , established a new framework for closer relations
between the EU and these countries, to be developed through a progressive approach adapted
to the specific situation of each country. This new context provides for a wide-ranging
partnership, notably through a new category of agreements, the Stabilisation and Association
Agreements (SAA).
The opening of negotiations for a SAA depends upon compliance by the specific country with
the relevant political and economic conditions. The political developments in the Republic of
Croatia, following Parliamentary and Presidential Elections in early 2000, marked a new
beginning in bilateral relations and resulted in the adoption by the Commission on
24 May 2000 2 of a positive report on the feasibility of negotiating a Stabilisation and
Association Agreement with the Republic of Croatia. The report underlined the encouraging
steps undertaken by the new Croatian Government towards compliance with the EU
conditionality and assessed that the Republic of Croatia has the capacity ultimately to fulfil
the obligations of a Stabilisation and Association Agreement. It therefore concluded that the
conditions for the opening of negotiations for a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with
the Republic of Croatia were met.
As a result, on 19 July 2000 the Commission adopted its recommendation for the opening of
negotiations. The Council, in its conclusions of 20 November 2000, authorised the
Commission to open negotiations for a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the
Republic of Croatia, on the basis of agreed negotiating directives.
The negotiations were opened by the Commission on 24 November 2000, in the margins of
the Zagreb Summit. Following three official rounds of negotiations and several technical
meetings, the negotiating process was concluded in Zagreb on 11 May. The Commission
conducted all the negotiations in close consultation with the Special Committee created by the
Council for this purpose, namely the COWEB. The Stabilisation and Association Agreement
was therefore initialled by Commissioner Patten and the Croatian Chief negotiator,
Mr. Mimica, on 14 May 2001.
The Stabilisation and Association Agreement initialled with Croatia is the second one, since a
similar type of agreement has already been signed with the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia. The output of the negotiations with Croatia takes fully into account the precedent
framework while certain parts of the agreement are tailor-made for the individual situation of
the Republic of Croatia.
It is to note that the Stabilisation and Association Agreement will be the first comprehensive
contractual relation established between the European Communities and the Republic of
Croatia. Negotiations for a Cooperation Agreement, as well as for a Transport Agreement,
started in 1995 but were never concluded because of the "frozen" political relations between
the EU and this country. At present, the bilateral relations have been developed as follows:
1
2
COM(1999) 235 of 26.05.1999.
COM(2000) 311 of 24.05.2000.
2