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Zagreb - Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković on Thursday attended a meeting of national parliament speakers of the Slavkov group, which consists of Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, as a representative of a country holding the presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The meeting on EU enlargement was also attended by parliament speakers of Montenegro and Serbia.
In his opening address, Jandroković underscored that through the priorities of its presidency of the Council of the EU Croatia wants to contribute to strengthening Europe as it confronts numerous internal and external challenges.
He also reported on the four focal topics - the Multiannual Financial Framework, the Conference on the Future of Europe, new relations with the United Kingdom and the continuation of the enlargement policy.
Regarding enlargement, Jandroković underscored that the interest of the EU is a stable, peaceful, democratic, prosperous and European-oriented neighbourhood.
Further enlargement has to be a priority in political, security and economic terms. Therefore Croatia will continue working on reaching a consensus on the continuation of the enlargement policy among member states before the Summit in Zagreb in May, he said.
Jandroković underscored that Croatia would discuss how to make the negotiations more effective with other member states and how to encourage reforms and membership preparations, following the proposal by the European Commission for a new methodology for the EU accession process.
He welcomed the proposal as a step in the further development of the negotiation process, which equally takes into account the interests of member states and candidate countries.
Jandroković outlined the principles underlying the new negotiation process - a more credible process, stronger political management, a more dynamic process and a more predictable process. The principles should enable the continuation of the enlargement process and faster reforms and they should enable candidate countries to meet set political and economic criteria.
He underscored the importance of regional cooperation, which includes resolving issues with dialogue and good neighbourly relations.
Croatia is ready to continue helping Southeastern European countries on their European path because it is in its interest to have a peaceful, stable, safe and prosperous neighbourhood, Jandroković said.