ZAGREB, February 5, 2020 - Croatia has only inherited the proposal to raise the minimum flight delay for which passengers can receive financial compensation, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Oleg Butković said on Wednesday.

"This proposal was not put forward by the Croatian EU presidency, a Croatian ministry or the Croatian government. This point is again being raised by the European Commission during our presidency and is yet to be discussed," Butković told the press before an inner cabinet meeting.

"Croatia's position on the matter is logical and normal. We will not be asking for air companies to get richer at the expense of end users, that is citizens," the minister added.

Under EU rules, travellers are entitled to up to €600 compensation if a flight is delayed by at least three hours or cancelled less than 14 days before departure. They can also receive compensation if they are denied boarding.

Some national authorities and courts have criticised the rules, saying member states struggle to process the large number of claims they receive, and airlines' compensation payments have grown because the number of delays and cancellations has risen.

Talks among EU governments on revising passengers' rights, which have been in place since 2005, are due to start in the coming weeks. Any agreement will be considered by the European Commission and Parliament.

The European Commission proposed in 2013 that the minimum flight delay be increased from three to five hours, but negotiations stalled after that.

An informal document circulated among member states has proposed keeping the level of compensation the same as now for passengers, but suggested increasing the minimum flight delay for which airlines must make payments.

In 2018, 17.6 million passengers were affected by flight cancellations and 16.5 million by long delays.

More news about Croatia and the EU can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, February 5, 2020 - The European Union will consider raising from three hours the minimum flight delay for which passengers can receive financial compensation, a move that could cut airlines' costs, according to a document seen by Reuters.

Croatia, which is chairing the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2020, "has proposed amending the rules on compensation for delays and cancellations at talks among EU governments on revising passengers' rights that are due to start in the coming weeks."

"Under EU rules, travellers are entitled to up to 600 euros (663.24 dollars) if a flight is delayed by at least three hours or cancelled less than 14 days before departure. They can also receive compensation if they are denied boarding," Reuters recalls.

But some national authorities and courts have criticised the rules, saying member states struggle to process the large number of claims they receive, and airlines' compensation payments have grown because the number of delays and cancellations has risen.

In 2018, 17.6 million passengers were affected by a cancellation and 16.5 million by a long delay, Reuters reported.

In an informal document circulated among member states, Croatia has proposed keeping the level of compensation the same as now for passengers, but suggested increasing the minimum flight delay for which airlines must make payments.

Zagreb made the proposals "in order to take account of the high financial burden for airlines and of the fact that delays are less and less imputable to airlines," the document said.

More news about Croatia and the EU can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, February 4, 2020 - Croatian Science and Education Minister Blaženka Divjak said at an informal meeting of EU ministers in charge of research that brain circulation should remain one of the EU's cornerstones.

"We are encouraging mobility because those who are mobile and have experience from other countries bring that experience with them when they return. That way they make it possible for the system to be developed for the best, but we also want to attract others to work in Croatia," Divjak said at the meeting focusing on cooperation and researcher exchange and the future of the European Research Area.

European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Mariya Gabriel said that not all countries benefited the same way from brain circulation in Europe.

We must reduce those differences between member states and promote international cooperation between researchers, she said.

Gabriel said that the budget for the Horizon Europe development and innovation programme would be increased, with original allocations amounting to around 3.3% of the EU budget, and that the Maria Sklodowska Curie research scholarship programme would continue as well.

Phillippe Busquin, European Commissioner for Research and Development, during whose term the European Research Area was established 20 years ago, said that before the establishment of the European Research Area brain drain from the EU to the USA had been much greater and that the EU had grown stronger as a science-research centre since.

More news about Croatia and the EU can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, February 4, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Tuesday that Croatia is faced with a crucial decade for its membership of the European Union because only after the country absorbs funds from the second financial perspective will it be able to draw the line and say how much it has advanced as a member.

Plenković was addressing a conference on the new Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027 and the status of the cohesion policy in the new budget, organised by the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds and the Adult Education Institution for European structural and investment funds and EU programmes as part of the Croatian presidency of the Council of the EU and an official visit by the President of the European Court of Auditors, Klaus-Heiner Lehne.

He highlighted the importance of development investments for infrastructure and agriculture, which come from the Competitive and Cohesion Operational Programme and are crucial for the entire decade ahead.

When it comes to Croatia's starting position in the negotiations for the new MFF, Plenković pointed out the specific and special position Croatia has as being the only country of all member states that has only had the opportunity to utilise one financial perspective and that it is the only country that experienced military aggression, practically until it signed the Stabilisation and Association Agreement in 2001 it did not have any contractual relations or any macroeconomic support and pre-accession funds, and that it is still trying to catch up with those member states that have been in the Union longer.

He recalled that on Saturday he participated in an informal meeting in Portugal of Friends of Cohesion - 17 member states that are net beneficiaries from the EU budget - who said that they do not want the modernisation of the budget and financing new challenges like climate change, security and innovations to be at the expense of the cohesion policy and balanced regional development of individual areas in all member states.

Plenković said that preparations are underway for bilateral consultations to be held this week in Brussels with European Council President Charles Michel regarding an extraordinary meeting of the Council which will mark the first debate on the so-called negotiating box.

"Numbers will finally be presented which will serve as the basis for us to seek an agreement at the level of member states, that is, at the level of heads of state and government and then once an agreement is reached, negotiations will also be conducted with the European Parliament and Commission," Plenković explained, adding that the aim is for Croatia to achieve its budget objectives for the next seven years in an intelligent, effective and well-reasoned manner.

Considering the negotiations on the MFF, there are four positions which should be brought closer. The Commission has proposed a budget equivalent to around 1.11% of the gross national income (GNI). The Friends of Cohesion, which are net recipients, propose that outlays for agriculture and cohesion should be kept at the same level, maintaining the national shares of project co-financing and maintaining the current duration for the implementation of such projects. Finally, the European Parliament adopted a position on the MFF in November 2018 which reads that 1.3% of GNI should serve as an equivalent for the budget, so that all the promises can be delivered regarding fighting climate change, research and innovation programmes, regional policy and social rights.

Plenković believes that the negotiations will be exceptionally demanding, underlining that it is important that the budget is adopted on time so operational programmes are not delayed. After a political agreement is reached at the level of the European Council, some 40 MFF-related bills need to be adopted, which he estimates could take until the end of this year, while he hopes that an agreement at the level of member states can be achieved during Croatia's presidency.

"In that regard we will endeavour to protect Croatia's interests so that our EU membership in the next 10 years is an added value and the main driver of our development," Plenković added.

Plenković described Croatia's presidency of the EU so far as pretty good, adding that the first month of chairmanship was quite intensive, particularly with regard to Brexit.

He underscored the importance of the European Court of Auditors for the overall functioning of the EU as its task is not only to control spending but with its advice it can improve the process of budget planning and its execution as well as contributing to managing the budget efficiently.

Klaus-Heiner Lehne explained that in addition to monitoring the regularity of payments in terms of legality and mathematical correctness, the court is dedicating more attention to whether payments are achieving their purpose.

Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds Marko Pavić said that Croatia has absorbed 20.9 billion kuna more than it has paid into the European budget to date. Croatia has paid 22.4 billion kuna and received 43.3 billion kuna, said Pavić.

During this government's term in office, Croatia has increased the absorption of EU funding from the 2014-2020 financial perspective from 9% to 86% with about one-third being paid out from the current financial envelope which can be used until 2023, Pavić said, adding that he is certain that all the funds will be utilised in that time.

Croatia's member of the Court of Auditors Ivana Maletić said that the court had made its recommendations regarding the European budget and emphasised the importance of demographic challenges and climate change, in the context of which the European Commission has adopted the Green Deal.

More news about Croatia and the EU can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, February 4, 2020 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković has warned that EU member countries' leaders should reach a political agreement on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for the period 2021-2027 as soon as possible, so that the legislative part of the work could also be completed as soon as possible.

One should bear in mind that having a political agreement on the negotiating framework at the European Council is not enough, it is necessary to negotiate with the European Parliament the legislative part of the work as well, Plenković said in an interview with the politico.eu website during his visit to Portugal this past weekend, where he attended a meeting of the Friends of Cohesion informal group.

At the level of the European Council, the EU's highest political body made up of member-states' heads of state or government, a consensus needs to be reached regarding the amount of the budget for each year in the seven-year period as well as amounts for individual areas that are financed, such as cohesion, agriculture, research, etc.

After that, the Council of the EU and the European Parliament must agree on a set of legislative acts for the implementation of the MFF.

The meeting in Portugal was held three weeks ahead of an extraordinary meeting of the European Council, called by its president Charles Michel in an attempt to help reach a compromise on the EU's new seven-year budget.

The extraordinary summit, to be held on February 20, will give new political impetus to attempts to reach an agreement but it is too early to say if it will result in one, Plenković said.

Michel is in charge of preparing a draft agreement on the MFF, which Plenković says is good for Croatia as the country currently chairing the Council of the EU as it gives it more room to defend its own national interests.

Plenković repeated that for Croatia cohesion policy was extremely important, notably in light of the fact that Croatia was the youngest EU member and had so far used cohesion funds for a much shorter period of time than other members.

More news about Croatia and the EU can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, February 2, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said at the end of the Friends of Cohesion summit in Portugal on Saturday that the participants reached a unanimous conclusion that all EU members - net recipients of the European funds were in favour of preservation of adequate funds for the cohesion policy.

All the countries that are net recipients of European funds want that the final agreement on the future seven-year budget of the European Union retains adequate funds for the cohesion policy, Plenković told reporters in Portugal.

The rationale behind that is that countries lagging behind the most developed ones in the EU could make sure that the living standards of their regions could move upward, Plenković said adding that the message is to ensure adequate funds for the cohesion policies.

This is the most important message of the conclusions adopted today, Plenković said.

The informal Friends of Cohesion group met on Saturday in Portugal ahead of an extraordinary meeting of the European Council set for 20 February when an agreement should be reached between the countries described as the net contributors to the EU budget and those net recipients.

Some of the countries seek to reduce the EU budget and direct most of the reduced budget at new priorities, such as climate change, at the expense of cohesion and agricultural policies.

The meeting in Portugal followed after officials of the 17 member-states convened in Prague on 5 November 2019 to define the group's further steps in defending the cohesion and agricultural policies in the next financial framework. During their gathering in the Czech capital city they demanded that in the 2021-2027 EU budget, the same amount should be set aside for the purpose of cohesion as it has been so far the practice.

The member states of the group are: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Italy, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. They are perceived as net recipients considering the EU budget.

More news about Croatia and the EU funds can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, February 1, 2020 - At the summit in Beja on Saturday, the leaders of the Friends of Cohesion group will define their positions on cohesion policy that is important for all, and especially for those European regions that are yet to catch up with those most developed, the Croatian and Portuguese prime ministers said in this Portuguese city.

"Our task today is to define our positions ... on the so-called traditional policies, and those are, first of all, cohesion policy as well as agricultural policy," Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said at a joint press conference with his Portuguese counterpart Antonio Costa.

"Cohesion policy is the redistributive strength of the European budget that EU citizens need, regardless of where they live, and especially in those regions of our member states where we still strive to reach the development level of the most developed regions in Europe or those of average development," Plenković said.

Costa said that Portugal and Croatia have different experiences in the EU, but that there are also common aspects such as cohesion. Both countries are interested in getting adequate funding from the EU budget in the next seven years.

"Our message regarding cohesion is clear. We want to make it clear that Europe is one and united in its interests. It is important to us that Britain has left, but it is even more important that Europe should stay coherent," Costa said.

Today's meeting of the informal group Friends of Cohesion is important ahead of an extraordinary meeting of the European Council on February 20, which was called by European Council President Charles Michel in an effort to reach a compromise between the Friends of Cohesion and the countries that seek to reduce the EU budget and direct most of the reduced budget at new priorities, such as climate change, at the expense of cohesion and agricultural policies.

The new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) will largely define what the EU will be like in the next ten years or so. The EU member states are divided over the MFF, the first without the United Kingdom which left the European Union on January 31 at midnight Central European Time.

Cohesion policy is an inseparable part of the single market and concerns all EU member states, Costa said, recalling that cohesion is important for all member states because they have all used these funds.

"It's no coincidence that the Friends of Cohesion have gathered together 17 countries, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, which is a real proof of how important this policy is. It enables every village, every town and every citizen to deal with their problems and get closer to the European level standard," Costa said.

He added that it would be bad for the EU if these funds were cut in favour of some other policies.

"Of course, we need a compromise. We have the position of the European Commission, Parliament and Council and we need to bring them closer and reach a final agreement," Costa said.

Plenković reiterated that Croatia would be pleased if this agreement was reached during its presidency of the Council of the EU, but noted that it wanted it to be a good agreement. He said that the agreement should be reached this year.

Plenković used his working visit to Portugal to meet with Costa. They concluded that the two countries had very good and friendly relations.

Both countries are interested in strengthening their trade, which reached about €115 million last year.

"We think we should get both Croatian and Portuguese companies more interested in investing and cooperating. I am particularly glad that we are seeing a growing number of Portuguese tourists," Plenković said.

More news about relations between Croatia and Portugal can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, January 30, 2020 - EU membership is the Serbian government's strategic commitment, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić said on Wednesday evening, expressing confidence that the Thessaloniki summit in February would be an opportunity for a constructive discussion on the prospects of integration of the Western Balkan countries into the EU and that the Zagreb summit in May would be a chance to make this agenda even more specific.

Dačić expressed hope that the Croatian presidency of the Council of the European Union would be successful in every respect and that Serbia would continue to progress in the EU accession process.

He was speaking at a reception organised by the Greek Embassy in Belgrade ahead of the ministerial conference "From Thessaloniki to Zagreb", set for February 24 in Greece's second largest city.

"Zagreb hosted an EU-Western Balkans conference back in 2000 and we believe that the EU-Western Balkans summit scheduled for May will provide an additional impulse to enlargement policy," Dačić said according to a Foreign Ministry press release.

He said he expected "strong support" from all EU member states, taking into account the commitments from the 2003 Thessaloniki agenda. "I believe the Zagreb summit in May will be an excellent opportunity to give that agenda concrete expression," he added.

Speaking of the 2003 summit, Dačić said that of all countries of the former Yugoslavia only Croatia had joined the EU since then.

Despite the fact that Serbia has undertaken radical social and government reforms to adapt to the values, principles and rules of the EU, Belgrade has opened only half of the negotiating chapters, including only two in 2019. This leads to the conclusion that progress in the European integration process is not proportionate to the results of the reform process, which is why the pace of opening chapters should be improved and adapted to the pace of reform, Dačić said.

He said that in the context of work on changing the methodology of the accession process, Belgrade expected the new methodology to be transparent and based on clear principles and rules and objective benchmarks, taking into account the results of countries that are well advanced in the accession process, such as Serbia.

More news about relations between Croatia and Serbia can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, January 29, 2020 - Croatia and Bulgaria recorded the highest increase of organic farming area in the European Union in the period from 2012 to 2018, says a report by the European statistical office - Eurostat.

The total organic area in the European Union (EU) was 13.4 million hectares in 2018, corresponding to 7.5% of the total utilised agricultural area, shows Eurostat's report released on Wednesday.

This represents an increase of 34% between 2012 and 2018.

Eurostat explains that organic area covers land fully converted to organic farming and areas under conversion. Organic farming is a way of agricultural production which uses organic production methods and places the highest emphasis on environmental and wildlife protection and, with regard to livestock production, on animal welfare considerations.

Among the EU Member States, the countries with the largest shares of organic area in 2018 were Austria (24.1% of total utilised agricultural area), Estonia (20.6%) and Sweden (20.3%), followed by Italy (15.2%), Czechia (14.8%), Latvia (14.5%), Finland (13.1%) and Slovenia (10.0%).

With a 6.9% share of organic area, Croatia is among countries like Germany (7.3%), France (7.0%) and Belgium (6.6%). In 2018 Croatia had 103,166 hectares of organic farming area, almost three times more than in 2012.

Only two countries recorded a decrease in organic area - Great Britain and Poland.

Spain has the largest organic farming area expanding over 2.2 million hectares and accounts for 16.7% of total utilised farming land.

More agriculture news can be found in the Business section.

ZAGREB, January 29, 2020 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in Zagreb on Wednesday that the first month of Croatia's EU presidency had been intensive and successful, and that the first major goal had been accomplished with the completion of the procedure for Great Britain's exit from the EU.

In an interview in Europe House, held as part of the Croatian Radio Europanel programme, Plenković said that Brexit was the worst decision the UK could have made and recalled that it would not bring any dramatic changes for EU citizens and companies, notably those from Croatia.

In the next 11 months Great Britain and the EU should regulate their future relations, Plenković said, noting that it was necessary to focus on key issues such as trade, fisheries and security.

As for the further enlargement of the EU to Southeast Europe, Plenković said that he expected the EU-Western Balkans summit, to be held in Zagreb in May, to send a clear message "as to what our neighbours can expect".

"People in the EU live much better than in any other part of the world, our neighbours have no other place to go but Europe," Plenković said.

He did not agree with the interviewer's remark that the EU is getting weaker but warned that it should be more resolute.

"Each of those countries is open to communication with other stakeholders as well. If the EU is slow and hesitant, others will position themselves."

The other goals of Croatia's EU presidency are the Multiannual Financial Framework and the Conference on the Future of Europe.

Plenković said that it was necessary to understand "the political core of the problems in the EU, which is inequality and insufficient inclusion."

Commenting on irregularities in the work of border police, he said that "if there are any irregularities, they are investigated."

He said that putting up fencing on the border was out of the question. "We will not put up fences or barriers on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. As long as we are in power, that will not happen."

More news about Croatia and the EU can be found in the Politics section.