EU governments sign an accession treaty today to bring Croatia into the 27-state bloc in July 2013 with a sense of relief that it may be the last Balkan state to join for years.
It will be a momentous occasion for the former Yugoslav republic but for the EU the milestone is set to be overshadowed by efforts to tackle the euro zone debt crisis.
In the longer term, EU governments hope that Croatia’s success in meeting tough entry criteria will persuade other aspiring states in the Balkans that reforms pay off, paving the way for them to join eventually.
But for now, many are eager for a respite from further enlargement and the associated costs as the debt crisis rages.
Croatia’s treaty will be signed at the same summit in Brussels today where EU heads of state will discuss drastic plans to redesign EU institutions to arrest the euro crisis.
Fortunately, the new southern member state of 4.3 million people – adding less than 1 percent to the EU’s population – will not be a heavy burden on the EU’s troubled finances.
The signing wraps up an almost decade-long accession process. As late as this year, Croatia’s membership bid seemed to stumble over concerns in the EU about slow reforms in the country and unease among European voters over further enlargement.
“Enlargement fatigue is growing,” said one Brussels diplomat. “The further you go, the closer you come to the political and geographical limits of Europe and that’s where debates start.”
Croats are eager to leave behind the legacy of socialist Yugoslavia, which they quit in 1991, and join the EU – even as the bloc goes through a period of soul-searching likely to produce deep changes in how EU members decide future policies.
Croatia will be the second former Yugoslav republic to join, following its smaller northern neighbour Slovenia.
Many Croatians hope European oversight of domestic policy-making will ensure democratic reforms continue to rebuild their ex-communist economy and combat widespread corruption.
But they also worry, like many eastern Europeans who joined the EU over the past decade, about their ability to compete with more mature economies for markets and resources once inside the world’s largest economic and trade bloc.
Fanito Zuvela, who produces olive oil on the southern Adriatic island of Korcula and exports most of it to EU markets in Slovenia, Germany and Austria, sees the economic and political benefits of EU membership coupled with uncertainty.
“There will be a much bigger market and free flow of goods, but there are also risks,” he said. “We may end up flooded with cheap products, while our country is doing little to promote and encourage our own products like a normal country should.
“Will that change? Will there be more law and order, more help for the few producers we still have? That is something we have to do on our own and if we are unable to do it, we need the EU to impose it on us.”
To earn Europe’s invitation to join, Croatia had to implement far-reaching democratic and economic reforms and show that its politicians were serious about combating corruption and crime.
But its economy has ground to a halt amid Europe’s financial crisis, and Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor lost a parliamentary election on Sunday over a string of corruption scandals linked to her party, HDZ, and voter anger about economic woes and dwindling foreign investment.
“We can benefit from the EU because we’ll get our hands on funds to be spent on specific areas,” said 32-year-old architect Jan. “It’s good that we’ll have some kind of oversight, because after all we are to a great extent a society full of thieves and people who don’t like to work. In that sense, there isn’t really any alternative to joining the EU.“
Such worries are not lost on European politicians. Croatia will face close scrutiny in the next 18 months as the EU strives to ensure it maintains the momentum of anti-corruption reforms. – Reuters