Admission to the European Union (EU) is "the goal of all goals" for Croatia, it is our most important foreign policy and internal policy goal, Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor said today at the opening of an event on EU funding opportunities, called "Croatia in Europe, Europe for Croatia".
Reminding that the EU would set aside EUR 2.2 billion for the first two years of Croatia's membership, plus special funds for agriculture amounting to EUR 670 million, and that as of 2014 we would be entitled to receive EUR 1.6 billion annually, Kosor reckoned that it is a very respectable amount of money for our country.
Following Croatia' admission to the EU, all our strategic priorities, such as improving transport infrastructure (especially railway transport), water management, waste management, linking research and business, and improving business infrastructure, will receive concrete financial support.
EU will add three times higher amount for every investment in these fields - meaning that they will add HRK 75 for our invested HRK 25, Kosor said.
We are in the very final stage of the EU accession negotiations, and the Government's determination is stronger than ever, particularly regarding the cooperation with the ICTY in The Hague, Kosor pointed out, adding that the Government "wants to know where the documents requested by the Chief Prosecutor are".
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Ivan Šuker emphasized that Croatia is one of the few countries whose rate of utilisation of EU pre-accession funds has exceeded 90 percent.
At the time of the first generation of pre-accession funds, from 2004 to 2006, a total of EUR 297 million was allocated, and through the new Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) programme, from 2007 to 2011, EUR 750 million was allocated, Šuker recalled.
EU funding provides an opportunity for economic recovery of Croatia, if we know how to use it, however, that does not depend solely on the Government, but also on every municipality, town, county and private sector which should take advantage of the legislative framework prepared by the Government, Šuker said.
Today's presentation of EU funding opportunities at the Mimara Museum is a whole day informative educational event, the purpose of which is to provide comprehensive professional information on possibilities of using funds from EU pre-accession programmes as well as on future EU funds to be made available to Croatia after joining the EU.
(Croatian News Agency- Hina)
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