On 5 November 2008 the Commission adopted its annual strategy document explaining its policy on EU enlargement. The document includes also a summary of the progress made over the last twelve months by each candidate and potential candidate: Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, as well as Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo (under UN Security Council Resolution 1244/99).
Furthermore, the 2008 progress reports were published on the same date, where the Commission services monitor and assess the achievements of each of the candidate and potential candidates over the last year.
The progress reports on Croatia, Macedonia and Turkey assess the "development policy and humanitarian aid" of each of the three candidate countries as part of the External Relations chapter 30.
The Croatian report states: "Some progress can be reported on development policy and humanitarian aid. A new department responsible for developmental cooperation was established within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integrations in November 2007. Croatia currently does not collect statistics on development and humanitarian aid in line with OECD/ODA standards, however, progress has been made towards meeting the standard. Croatia will need to establish the required legal framework in this area. Generally, preparations in this area are well advanced." However, the chapter concludes that "Continued efforts are also needed in the areas of development policy and humanitarian aid."
The Macedonian report has "no progress to report in the areas of development policy and humanitarian aid." The conclusion of the external relations chapter states that "The institutional capacity is not yet sufficient, especially in the areas of development policy and humanitarian aid."
Some progress has been made in Turkey in the field of development policy and humanitarian aid. According to the report, "Turkey granted some 602 million USD of official development aid in 2007. Turkey’s level of alignment remains satisfactory in this field."
For more information, download the Enlargement Strategy 2008-2009 and the country Progress Reports from: http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/press_corner/key-documents/reports_nov_2008_en.htm
Source: http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/press_corner/key-documents/reports_nov_2008_en.htm#1
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment