EU-Croatia relations[fr][de] 

Croatia was part of federal Yugoslavia before and after World War Two. The country declared independence in June 1991. This led to war with the troops from the remainder of Serbian-dominated Yugoslavia and with members of the ethnic Serb community inside Croatia itself.

• The EU established diplomatic relations with Zagreb in 1992.
• In October 2001 a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) was signed.
• End of 2001 the Commission adopted a country strategy for Croatia (2002-2006), providing assistance via the CARDS programme.
• On 21 February 2003, Croatia submitted its application for EU membership
• In June 2004 the Council gave a go-ahead to open membership talks.
• In December 2004 the EU said it would open accession talks in spring 2005, provided that the country co-operates fully with the war crimes tribunal.
• On 16 March 2005, the EU postponed the launch of accession talks, arguing that Zagreb had not met the related conditions.
• In October 2005 the EU formally openeded membership talks with Croatia.
• The screening process started in October 2005 and was completed in October 2006.
• The negotiation chapter on science and research was opened and closed in June 2006.
• The Commission's November 2006 progress report on Croatia  asked for further reform.
• The negotiation chapter on intellectual property law was opened on 29 March 2007.
• At the 4th EU-Croatia Accession Conference in Brussels on 19 December 2007, negotiations were opened on two more chapters - trans-European networks, and on financial and budgetary provisions. Since the opening of negotiations in 2005, 16 chapters have been opened and two have been provisionally closed.

According to the Commission, Croatia has stable democratic institutions and there are no major problems as regards the rule of law and respect for fundamental rights.

The political preconditions set for Croatia's EU bid have included the return of ethnic Serbs who fled the country during and after the 1991-95 Serbo-Croatian war, reform of the judiciary and full co-operation with the UN war crimes court at The Hague. 

In terms of economic issues, Croatia is already considered to have a functioning market economy as advanced and stable as some existing EU member states. The Commission has recognised the country's efforts to achieve "a considerable degree of macroeconomic stability with low inflation".

Pre-accession financial assistance amounted to around €140 million in 2006.

According to the 2007 Commission progress report , further action is required in the areas of:

• Judicial and public administration reforms;
• minority rights;
• refugee return, and;
• restructuring in heavy industries.

Having kept Zagreb in the bay for months over its lack of co-operation with the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Carla Del Ponte, the UN's chief prosecutor, delivered a positive report on the country's record and declared on 3 October 2005 that "yes, it is the first time we are saying it's full co-operation".

Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said that Croatia should stay on the course of reform; should speed up the process of refugee returns; and should make every effort to improve the rights of the minorities. He warned that Zagreb could face a suspension of its accession negotiations if it falters in its reforms.