Institute for International Relations

Pècs Initiative

Completing Eastern Enlargement (Including Bulgaria and Romania) and its Effects on the Accession of Croatia

Zagreb, Croatia, 13 October 2006, 9:30 a.m.

The international conference Completing the Eastern Enlargement (Including Bulgaria and Romania) and its Effects on the Accession of Croatia was held on 13 October 2006 at the Croatian Journalists' Association in Zagreb. The Conference was jointly organised by the Institute for International Relations and the Hanns Seidel Foundation from Zagreb.

This Conference was organised as part of the series of conferences organised in the framework of the Péces Initiative, launched in 2003 by the Institute for World Economics from Budapest, the Hanns Seidel Foundation and the Economic Policy Institute from Sofia. The main idea behind the Péces Initiative was to explore the effects of enlargement process on EU member states, acceding countries and the candidate countries.

Opening speeches ware given by: Damir Kušen on the behalf of the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration and IMO, Hans Friedrich von Solemacher representative of the Hanns Seidel Foundation, Pasi Poysari, representative of the Finnish Embassy to Croatia and András Inotai, director of the Institute for World Economics from Budapest.

The morning session was dedicated to country reports each analysing economic and political impacts of the European integration process in one particular transitional country. The country reports ware submitted by the following presenters: Damir Kušen from the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Ivanka Petkova from the Economic Policy Institute in Sofia, Mihai Moia from the European Institute of Romania in Bucharest and András Inotai from the Institute for World Economics in Budapest.

The country reports presented achievements of the countries on their way to the EU and remaining challenges. They also revealed interesting data on the state of the Bulgarian and Romanian economy. On one hand, according to Eurostat statistics for 2005, both in Bulgaria as well as in Romania the GDP per head in PPP accounted for only around 30% of the EU25 average. On the other hand, in the same year Bulgaria and Romania registered the GDP growth of around 5%, which by large extends the 1,7% average growth in the EU25.

In addition to the legal and economic challenges, the morning session also highlighted some of the issues relevant for next enlargements, such as questions of European values and borders, supranational and national competences, need for reform of the European decision-making procedure, role of national, regional and European communication policies and importance of the December European Summit, which is expected to add to the discussion on enlargement.

The afternoon session focusing on the regional cooperation in Europe started with presentation by Oscar Benedikt from the European Commission Delegation to the Republic of Croatia. Benedikt analysed Croatian participation in three EU cross border cooperation programmes under the framework of the Interreg initiative. He concluded his presentation by stating that the opportunities for financing cross border cooperation projects will be enlarged after Croatia joins the EU; however the materialization of these new opportunities will largely depend on the national absorption capacity.

Klaus Fiesinger from the Munich Office of the Hanns Seidel Foundation talked about importance of the Euro-regions for the further development of regional cooperation. At the moment there are over 200 Euro-regions in Europe that contribute towards establishment of higher quality in addressing various trans-border issues.

According to Ana-Maria Boromisa from the Institute for International Relations in Zagreb, the EU views regional co-operation in the Western Balkans as an essential factor for political stability and economic prosperity in the region and the only way for countries of this area to successfully address common challenges such as: energy shortages, pollution, transport infrastructure, cross-border criminal activities etc. Boromisa also talked about formalisation of regional co-operation in the framework of multilateral energy treaty between the EU and countries in South Eastern Europe.

Gabor Tury from the Institute for World Economics in Budapest addressed the issue of sustainable regional development in the National Development Plan of Hungary, while Elena Botezatu from the European Institute of Romania in Bucharest talked about her country's experiences with fighting corruption. Botezatu discussed five pillars of the Stability Pact Anti-Corruption Initiative (SPAI): implementation of European and international anti-corruption instruments; promotion of good governance and reliable public administrations; strengthening of legislation and promotion of the rule of law; and promotion of transparency and of an active civil society.

Tsvyatko Velikov from the European Affairs Unit in the Council of Ministers submitted the last Conference presentation focusing on the future Bulgarian prospects for participation in regional cooperation programs. During the 2007-2013 EU financial period Bulgaria will be allegeable to retract 7,75 billion euros from the Structural funds. Velikov discussed national priorities in allocation of these assets, which are set in the document entitled Bulgarian Strategy for Regional Development 2005-2015.

The Conference was closed by András Inotai, director of the Institute for World Economics from Budapest. Inotai stated that success of the latest enlargements depends not only on the EU's widening capacity but on its deepening capacity as well.

Hrvoje Butković