ZAGREB, January 7, 2020 - French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday ahead of his meeting with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković in Paris that he wished the summit meeting, set for May in Zagreb, would be successful and that changes to the methodology in the negotiation process was a precondition for opening negotiations with candidate countries.

"I share your endeavours that the summit in Zagreb in May achieves unity and that it is a success for Europe. France has proposed a new method for the enlargement process so that it is not just a bureaucratic process but a truly political path forward which can be accelerated and reversed and which contains conditions and also, concrete benefits for candidate countries," Macron said, who together with Prime Minister Plenković issued a statement to the press ahead of a working lunch in Elysee Palace.

"I would like to underscore France's wish for the summit in Zagreb to be a success," Macron added.

Plenković will present Macron with the programme and main aspects of Croatia's presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2020.

The two statesmen will discuss the negotiation framework for future relations between the European Union and the United Kingdom, negotiations on the new multiannual financial framework, preparations for the Conference on the Future of Europe, and the EU-Southeast Europe Summit in Zagreb in May. In that context the two officials are supposed to discuss the further enlargement of the Union.

At the EU summit last October, France, together with The Netherlands, vetoed the opening of accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania.

Assuming the six-month presidency of the Council of the EU on January 1, Croatia wants to unblock that process because it considers that there is no alternative to the European prospects for southeast European countries.

"I'm glad that President Macron expressed optimism regarding the success of the Zagreb summit. That meeting is exceptionally important for us. It is in our interest for countries to be stable and to implement economic and social reforms," Prime Minister Plenković said.

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

ZAGREB, January 5, 2020 - The beginning of Croatia's presidency of the Council of the European Union will be officially marked in Zagreb next week, when the entire European Commission, led by President Ursula von der Leyen, as well as European Council President Charles Michel, will visit Zagreb.

European Council President Michel will arrive in Zagreb on January 9, and during the day he will meet with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and in the evening attend a ceremony marking the start of Croatia's EU presidency at the Croatian National Theatre (HNK).

After the ceremony, a dinner will be hosted by President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović.

All EC commissioners, led by von der Leyen, will arrive in Zagreb slightly later on Thursday and will attend the ceremony at the HNK.

On Friday, January 10, a meeting will be held between the European Commission and the Croatian government at the National and University Library.

Prime Minister Plenković will talk with EC President von der Leyen and Croatian ministers will hold talks with European commissioners who cover the ministers' departments.

Von der Leyen will also meet with Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković.

Plenković and von der Leyen will hold a joint news conference, after which Plenković will host a working lunch for EC members and his government ministers.

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

ZAGREB, January 3, 2020 - The centre-left government in Spain on Thursday wished Croatia good luck during its six-month presidency of the European Union, noting that in that period work will be done to strengthen the EU.

Spain and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs "wish good luck to Croatia, which for the first time ever holds the presidency of the EUCouncil in 2020. The work of the EU2020HR will be guided by the slogan ‘A strong Europe in a world of challenges’," the ministry tweeted.

On Wednesday, Croatia assumed the presidency of the bloc of 28 countries for the first time since accessing the European Union in 2013.

Spain's Secretary of State for the European Union, Marco Aguirirano, met in Madridon 17 December with Croatian state secretary Andreja Metelko-Zgombić and the two officials discussed topics related to the EU. The meeting was when Metelko-Zgombić attended the Asia-Europe summit.

The two state secretaries announced the establishment of firmer relations in politics and culture between their two countries.

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

ZAGREB, January 3, 2020 - The European budget will be the most important political topic of Croatia's Council of the European Union presidency because it will impact all the polices of the 27-member bloc, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday, adding that he expected "an appropriate compromise" to be reached.

Aside from the other four priorities of the Croatian presidency - a Europe that grows and develops, a Europe that connects and a Europe that is secure and influential globally - Plenković also singled out "the concrete, big political topics that will attract a lot of media attention and demand the political engagement of Croatia and the other member states," including the 2021-27 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).

"Politically, the MFF is without a doubt the most important dossier Croatia will deal with in the months ahead," he said, adding that there was little time and that the European budget must be adopted this year.

This means the adoption of 45 laws proposed by the European Commission in cooperation with the European Council and the European Parliament, Plenković told the press.

The 2021-27 MFF will impact all Union policies and their financing - agriculture, rural development, fisheries, the cohesion policy, and new challenges such as migration, security, climate change or innovation.

According to a May 2018 proposal from Jean-Claude Juncker's Commission, the budget should be at 1.114% of the gross national income of the 27 member states. The dozen most developed countries which are net contributors want a smaller budget, while the rest, who are net recipients, want to continue to receive appropriate funding for the cohesion policy and agriculture. The European Parliament wants the budget to be 1.3% of the gross national income.

"The compromise that need to be found must strike a balance between the Commission's initial proposal, the positions of ten countries and those which want more money, and the EP's position," Plenković said.

European Council President Charles Michel has been formally tasked with coordinating negotiations on the MFF. In this context, he is more neutral than any presiding member state and Croatia, Plenković said, will help so that an appropriate compromise is reached.

Croatia "has a clear and strong national interest in receiving from the total budget in the next seven years funds which will resolve our priorities," he said. "In that context, we want the continuation of financing for the cohesion policy, the agricultural policy and the rural development policy, but also to ensure funds for other challenges such as security and preventing illegal migration."

Plenković is confident a compromise will be reached that will enable the Commission to carry out ambitious plans while retaining traditional policies.

"The MFF must be good for the whole Union and see to the specificities of every member state," he said, adding that, as the youngest member state Croatia had the least time to "catch up" with the rest of the EU.

He is confident Croatia will be able to better articulate the importance of the cohesion, agricultural and rural development policies which are important for a balanced development of the majority of the member states.

Plenković went on to say that Croatia had prepared a strategy for introducing the euro as its official currency.

We are going step by step, he said, adding that "through close dialogue with the Eurogroup and institutions we have prepared an action plan" which accompanies the process of entering the European Exchange Rate Mechanism II.

"We want to complete that plan by the end of our presidency and for an appropriate decision at the Eurogroup level to be made possible during the German presidency so Croatia can become part of ERM II, a mandatory step in the euro adoption process."

One of the big political topics of Croatia's EU presidency will be a summit on the Western Balkans in May, initiated by Zagreb and aimed, Plenković said, at stepping up the pace of the relations between Southeast European countries and the EU.

"Our political goal in consultations with the Commission and the member states" before the summit is to find a way to open accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, he added.

Brexit is a political topic that will be on the agenda this month. Plenković expects an orderly Brexit on January 31, after which, during February, Croatia, the Council and the Commission have to coordinate a draft comprehensive negotiating framework for future relations.

"That's our job and we are already working on it with (EU chief Brexit negotiator) Michel Barnier. "It's envisaged that those relations be negotiated from February 1 until the end of the year. Ideally, we will make our contribution and the process will end during the German presidency."

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

ZAGREB, January 2, 2020 - The chairman of Bosnia and Herzegovina's House of Representatives, Denis Zvizdić, on Thursday wrote in his letter of congratulations to Zagreb on Croatia's presidency of the European Union that he expected Zagreb to "promote in a proper way" the progress made by his country on its European journey.

Zvizdić's letter sent to Sabor Speaker Gordan Jandroković and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković reads that Bosnia perceives Croatia's six-month rotating presidency as a period of strong promotion of the importance of the project of the EU enlargement to the Western Balkans.

Zvizdić writes that the region of the Western Balkans belongs to the family of European families strategically, historically, as well as culture-wise.

One of the two essential foreign policy objectives of Bosnia and Herzegovina is to become a full member of the EU. This objective, alongside the integration into NATO, is a priority and has no alternative, he says explaining that the membership of the EU and NATO is supposed to ensure "a permanent peace, long-term stability and economic prosperity."

He underlines that his country has been, is and would like to be "a noticeable and reliable partner in the processes of Euro-Atlantic integration and in creation of peace and stability within regional and international frameworks."

Zvizdić, a former prime minister, says that in the past few years, Bosnia and Herzegovina has made significant steps forward on its journey towards the EU and during the Croatian presidency of the bloc, Sarajevo expects "the proper promotion" of that headway resulting in the decision that Bosnia and Herzegovina may be given a status of candidate country for the EU membership.

This would be the best and most concrete message and support to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zvizdić writes, among other things.

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

ZAGREB, January 2, 2020 - Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman on Wednesday attended a ceremony of the unveiling of a cravat on the facade of the Croatian Embassy in Vienna, symbolically marking the start of Croatia's presidency of the European Union after which he was at the traditional New Year's Day concert by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

"We are marking the start of Croatia's presidency of the Council of the European Union while the red cravat, some three and a half metres long hanging from the balcony of the Croatian Embassy building in Vienna is symbolic. I think it will be noticed by everyone," Grlić Radman said.

"The tie (cravat) is recognised as a Croatian brand and in that way, we are attracting the attention of Austrian citizens," he added.

The unveiling of the cravat preceded this year's philharmonic concert and it is a great honour and pride for Croatian officials to be invited to this concert, Grlić Radman said who was invited to attend the concert by his Austrian counterpart Alexander Schallenberg.

Austria was one of the first countries to recognise Croatia's independence and continued to help it in later processes, Grlić Radman recalled.

Twenty-five years ago, Austria joined the EU and "today it is a great friend and we enjoy its support," he added.

Grlić Radman thanked Schallenberg for his invitation to attend today's concert on the occasion of marking Croatia's presidency of the Council of the European Union, saying that this was a "historic moment" for Croatia.

Schallenberg expressed Austria's support for Croatia in that process.

"Austria supports Croatia's presidency of the Council of the EU one hundred percent. Croatia is reliable and we know that it will do that job very well," Schallenberg underscored.

He said he was pleased his Croatian counterpart was in Vienna on the "first day of the New Year and the first day of Croatia's presidency of the Council of the European Union," and recalled that the Union is faced with huge tasks from adopting the budget, enlargement and neighbourhood policy and assessed that the EU is in good hands in Croatia.

Referring to bilateral relations between the two countries Schallenberg said that "not only is there a historical connection between the two countries but there is also a close human connection."

About 80,000 Croatians live in Austria and more than 1.2 million Austrians visit Croatia during their annual holidays, he recalled.

"They are close human ties and we have a very good economic cooperation. Austria is the number one investor in Croatia and with regard to bilateral relations, we can say that they couldn't be better," Schallenberg concluded.

Minister Grlić Radman believes that during its presidency Croatia will show "political credibility of its government and all its institutions, officials and in particular the foreign ministry as the coordinator of all activities."

"We are faced with a huge job and task and we have to do that job in the best way possible in the interest of all EU members, primarily based on regulating relations between the Union and the United Kingdom," he said.

The multiannual financial framework too is a challenge which "is pretty complex because various approaches exist in member state," believes Croatia's minister.

The meeting of the leaders of Eastern European and Western Balkan countries is a challenge because there are differing approaches when it comes to the issue of the Union's enlargement, he added.

Grlić Radman attended a breakfast held to mark the 25th anniversary of Austria, Sweden and Finland's accession to the European Union, which was attended by their host, the Austrian minister Schallenberg as well as Sweden's Prime Minister Kjell Stefan Lofven and Austria's Chancellor Brigitte Bierlein.

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

ZAGREB, January 1, 2020 - Croatia will do its best to show its ability and vision during its presidency of the Council of the European Union and it expects support from all friendly countries, including Austria of course, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković said on New Year's Day in Vienna.

"It's a great honour and pleasure to be in Austria today on the occasion of Croatia's presidency of the Council of the European Union," Jandroković told reporters.

The Croatian parliament speaker and his wife arrived in Vienna at the invitation of his Austrian counterpart Wolfgang Sobotka, to attend the traditional Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra New Year's Day concert.

Jandroković also notes that the EU is faced with a demanding period and that the key challenges are the next seven-year budget of the EU bloc and Brexit.

"We will do our best to show that Croatia has the capacity and vision to be at the helm of such an important organisation," Jandroković underscored and added that he expects the "support of countries, particularly friendly countries. That is why I am grad that I am in Austria today."

Croatia took over the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 January 2020 from Finland, six and a half years after entering the European bloc.

"This is a very important day for Croatia. After six and a half years of membership and the long battle for full membership, today we are at the helm of the EU, which is a huge responsibility," said Jandroković. Together with his host Wolfgang Sobotka, Jandroković viewed an exhibition in Heldenplatz square dedicated 25 years of Austria's EU membership and on the occasion of Croatia assuming the EU presidency.

Sobotka said that Austria is a "friendly and important country for Croatia which has taken over the presidency of the Council of the EU."

He recalled that Croatia had recently hosted several international conferences and said that it had done that very well and that everything it had undertaken was also in Austria's interest.

"I think that Croatia is well prepared for the presidency of the Council of the EU and I look forward to its presidency in the first half of this year," Sobotka said.

Jandroković and Sobotka conducted a working meeting after the concert to discuss bilateral relations, European topics and southeast Europe.

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

ZAGREB, January 1, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Tuesday extended his best wishes for the New Year, saying that his government would continue working to improve living standards and ensure even development of all regions in Croatia.

He said that in the past year the government had consolidated economic growth, continued with tax cuts and structural reforms, launched many infrastructure projects, considerably increased the intake of EU funding and restored the country's credit rating to investment grade.

2020 will be a year of further economic development and international positioning of Croatia, especially during its presidency of the European Union which should give an extra impulse to the political and economic affirmation of the country, Plenković said.

"Confident that together we continue building and leading the Croatian society in the right direction towards prosperity and wellbeing, I wish you a lot of happiness, good health and all the best in the New Year 2020," the prime minister said in his message.

Incumbent President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, who is running for her reelection, on Tuesday visited Krapina-Zagorje County and the town of Marija Bistrica where she wished everyone all the best in 2020 and in the hope that the New Year is the best ever. During her tour of that northwestern county, she stopped in a few municipalities and towns.

The president also releases her greetings on the website of her office.

"I wish the best of health and happiness in 2020 to all Croats, Croatian citizens in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that we continue working for a better and more prosperous future of our Homeland in a spirit of community and patriotism," says the Croatian head of state.

Parliament Speaker Gordan Jadroković on Tuesday extended a message for the 2020 year wishing prosperity in the private, family and business life of Croatian citizens and expressing hope that the new year is an incentive for thinking about one's own contribution to the further strengthening of Croatia.

"I wish that in the spirit of optimism and unity, the beginning of the new year can serve as an incentive for thinking about one's own contribution to the further strengthening of our homeland and the Croatian society in resolute endeavours to address all the possible challenges," Jandroković writes in his seasonal greetings.

"Our joint aim is to see to it that Croatia is developed as a prosperous country, with stable and strong institutions and economic and demographic growths, in parallel with the strengthening of social equity and solidarity for the purpose of creating a high-quality, dignified future of all the Croatian citizens," he added.

As for the national parliament, Jandroković promised the work on further strengthening of the legislative framework and adoption of legislative proposals meeting the demands and needs of all citizens in order to raise the quality of their life and promote political stability.

Jandroković recalls the legislative activities taken by the parliament to date have created a positive economic atmosphere that is supposed to "encourage us to invest more knowledge, commitment and thinking in the development of social, political and economic values in our homeland."

The Sabor will give its strong contribution to efforts to ensure the accomplishment of the goals and priorities of the Croatian presidency of the Council of the European Union for the purpose of creating a stronger Europe "in a world of challenges", Jandroković says in the message he forwarded on his own behalf and that of the parliament.

"I wish a happy New Year to all Croatians and all citizens who have chosen Croatia as their homeland," he added.

More politics news can be found in the dedicated section.

ZAGREB, January 1, 2020 - Croatia took over the presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 January 2020 from Finland, six and a half years after entering the European bloc.

The beginning of the Croatian presidency will be formally marked on 9 January when members of the European Commission are due to come to Zagreb and when a concert on that occasion is going to be held in the Croatian National Theatre. A concert will also be held in Brussels on 15 January to mark the start of the Croatian presidency, and this will coincide with the anniversaries of Croatia's international recognition on 15 January 1992 and the completion of the peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube region on 15 January 1998.

On 9 January, Zagreb will host a meeting of the European Commission under the helm of President Ursula von der Leyen and the event, which will take place in the Croatian National and University Library (NSK) complex, will be co-chaired by the Croatian government.

The presidency over the EU is seen as an opportunity to promote the country-in-chair and making the local society more sensitive to EU-related topics.

On 8 January, the day before the EC meeting, about 60 prominent correspondents of EU member-states from Brussels will arrive in Zagreb. It is a regular practice for the country presiding over the EU to invite groups of correspondents from Brussels city at the start of the six-month-long EU presidency. On that occasion, journalists are briefed about the priorities of the presidency of the country concerned and they can also see cultural and natural landmarks of the presiding country.

During their stay in Croatia, the foreign correspondents will be received by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and will also visit Plitvice Lakes and the northern Adriatic cities of Rijeka and Opatija.

"A strong Europe in a world of challenges" is the slogan Croatia has chosen for its presidency. The programme of its EU presidency is based on four themes or pillars - A Europe that develops; A Europe that connects; A Europe that protects; and An influential Europe.

In the next six months, about 1,400 meetings will be held at various levels, and most of them will take place in Brussels. Ministerial meetings in April and June will be organised in Luxembourg, according to standard practice.

In Croatia, a total of 161 events in relation to the presidency will be held. One of the major events will be a summit meeting between the EU and the Western Balkans, set for 7 May in Zagreb.

Apart from that, eight informal gatherings will take place in Zagreb, three in the biggest Adriatic city of Split and one in the coastal resort of Opatija.

Nine ministerial conferences will be organised in Croatia: five in Zagreb and four outside the capital city. A few expert-level meetings will be held in the eastern city of Osijek.

Some of the events which will take place in Croatia will focus on consumer protection, defence, organ transplantation, cohesion, migrations, demographic challenges, tourism, the European Social Fund and transport infrastructure.

On 27 December, the Croatian government prepared a very detailed and extensive programme of its presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2020. The 50-odd-page document sets out Croatia's national priorities and has been aligned with the EU's new strategic programme for the period 2019-2024 and the guidelines of the new European Commission.

In the next six months Croatia will be chairing the Council of the EU, formerly called the Council of Ministers, which is one of the EU's two legislative bodies, made up of ministers from member-countries' governments.

The Council meets in different configurations, depending on which topic is discussed, such as the Agriculture and Fisheries Council, the Justice and Home Affairs Council, etc.

Apart from the above-mentioned four main priorities, the programme of Croatia's presidency also contains priorities for all ten configurations of the Council of the EU.

With regard to the priority "A Europe that develops", Croatia's presidency will advocate a balanced, sustainable and inclusive growth of the EU that takes account of the specificities and needs of all member-countries, their regions and citizens, reads the programme.

As for the second priority, "A Europe that connects", Croatia will encourage policies directed at promoting the EU's infrastructure connectivity and at bringing its citizens closer, primarily through education, culture and sports.

With regard to the third priority, Croatia's presidency will work to further build the EU as an area of freedom, security and justice based on shared values, democracy and the rule of law, including internal security, better protection of the external borders, achieving the full operability of information systems, strengthening resilience to external threats as well as to hybrid and cyber threats.

Croatia's presidency will advocate the continuation of a consistent, effective and credible enlargement policy, as an investment in the stability, security and further economic development and connectivity of the European continent, reads the part entitled "An influential Europe."

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

ZAGREB, December 31, 2019 - The European Union has to face the existential problem of population decline affecting several member countries, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković warned in an interview with the Financial Times.

In the interview published on Monday on the Financial Times' web site, Plenković said that Croatia and other countries were grappling with a shrinking population because of low birth rates and emigration to more prosperous regions.

The population of 10 of the 28 EU member states grew smaller in 2018, including Croatia, Latvia, Bulgaria and Romania.

"This is a structural, almost an existential problem for some nations, and we are not the only one,” Plenković told the Financial Times.

“We are losing a city of 15,000, 16,000 people per year just by the fact that we have 15,000, 16,000 more deaths than births. For a country of around 4m, that is a lot, right? Plus we have freedom of movement now,” added Plenković.

The EU's newest member is the fifth-fastest shrinking country in the world, and is set to lose 17 per cent of its 2017 population by 2050, according to the UN, the FT reported.

Lower birth rates are one cause, but so is emigration. Between 2013, when Croatia joined the EU, and 2017, approximately 5 per cent of the country’s population moved to other member states, the FT says.

Croatia wants to put demographics at the heart of its agenda for the EU during its six-month presidency of the bloc starting in January. Zagreb also successfully pushed for its EU commissioner, Dubravka Šuica, to receive a portfolio dealing with democracy and demography.

Plenković wants Brussels to examine which countries are most affected and what policies and measures have been implemented to boost birth rates.

"We really did a lot in terms of demographic politics, tax, childcare, amounts of money that we give to parents for motherhood, etc — we are doing as much as we can. But I think we should do something at the European level," he said.

Here Croatia is about to step into a highly politically charged area. The loss of the UK as a contributor to the EU budget is contributing towards a tight settlement in the EU's next multi-annual budget.

Eastern European states are anxious to defend the cohesion budget as they seek funding for left-behind regions, even as western nations insist that more EU cash should be devoted to modern priorities including research and climate change.

"The union budget is a big budget — it is a seven-year budget and it has to really find ways to be forthcoming or provide answers to various challenges," said Plenković.

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