Rehn: Croatia can complete negotiations in autumn 2009 at the earliest
24 June 2008
The goal of the French presidency in the European Union will be to open almost all and close as many chapters as possible in the negotiations with Croatia, so the process could enter the decisive phase next year, announced French state secretary for European affairs Jean-Pierre Jouyet on Tuesday, at the conference on the European perspectives of SEE countries, called “The Balkan Balance”.
This is so far the most direct confirmation that the negative outcome of the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty will not affect EU’s enlargement policy.
EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn, who also participated at the conference, pointed out that the EU had the time to solve its institutional problems by autumn next year, when Croatia can complete the negotiations at the earliest.