Protesters in Zagreb Burn the EU Flag on Wednesday, Unrest Continues

The EU and SDP flags burning

Protesters in the Croatian capitol of Zagreb (some 5.000 people reported) burned the flags of the two most prominent political parties in Croatia, HDZ and SDP (for international readers, imagine that American protesters burn the flags of the republican and the democratic party). Following those burnings the protesters also ripped apart and burned the flag of the European Union.

The protesters also camped outside the building where the PM, Jadranka Kosor is housed chanting "no sleep tonight".

There was no reported violence. New protests are announced for the weekend in most major Croatian cities.

A video of protestors burning the HDZ flag:

Get to know Croatia in one minute

Roger Helmer gives a brief speech describing Croatia. It's all true despite the title. (Title translation: Roger Helmer makes fun of Croatia and it's EU application )

WWF warns against Croatia's river regulation projects

Croatia's new river regulation projects risk wiping out endangered species and run counter to the laws of the European Union that it aspires to join, the environmental WWF warned Thursday.

"We are very much concerned that new planned river regulation projects along all major rivers in Croatia are threatening unique natural areas and counteracting efforts of the EU to bring water management in line with EU policy and law," said WWF Austria expert Arno Mohl in a statement.

At issue are large-scale river regulation schemes planned by the Croatian water management authority, including sediment extraction and irrigation projects along the Danube, Drava, Mura, Sava and Neretva rivers.

These plans "would transform the natural meandering river stretches into a unified canal, fixed by stones, groins and embankments," the WWF statement said.

WWF warned that some 440 kilometers (273 miles) of natural river stretches of the Danube and Sava rivers could be regulated and destroyed, which is against the EU Water Framework Directive.

It would also impact Europe's largest floodplain forests and wetland areas and lead to the loss of several endangered species, it said.

It urged the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, to ensure the projects were properly regulated and warned they could undermine Croatia's accession to the EU.

A delegation of local non-governmental groups, WWF and German-based foundation EuroNatur handed a protest letter on the matter to the head of the EU delegation here.

Croatia hopes to join the EU in 2012. (source: france24.com)

Hungary reaffirms Croatia is priority for EU presidency mandate

The Hungarian Foreign Affairs Minister Janos Martony has said that his country's goal is to finish Croatia's membership negotiations by the end of the European Union presidency mandate if all requirements are fulfilled by that time.
With those words Martony concluded the General Affairs Council's (GAC) discussion about Hungarian priorities as it presides of over the EU for the next sixth months.
Few other delegates mentioned Croatia in their speeches, backing Martony's expectations that the country could finish negotiations by summer, the daily Vecernji List writes.

source: hic

Will Croatian shipyards live?

The European Commission (EC) is expected to decide in the next 15 days whether to allow Croatian shipyards to take on new orders, the daily Vjesnik writes.

Solving the question of Croatia's ailing shipyards is a key condition for completing the European Union requirements on market competition. The European Union (EU) does not permit the state to support the shipyards as it had done in the past as this could lead to a more advantageous position on the market for some state subsidized firms. The Union has banned the companies from taking new orders.

Croatia offered up the shipyards for privatization last May and bidders have sent their reconstruction plans to Brussels for review. The EC is evaluating the proposals.

Just yesterday (Mon) it emerged that Samobor-based screws factory DIV could become the new owner of the Split's Brodosplit shipyard, the daily Vecernji List writes.

Some 4,000 of Brodosplit’s workers may soon be able to breathe a sigh of relief after months of uncertainty over their employer’s fate since the company was offered up for privatization last May.

Source: Croatian Times

Croatia signs MOU with EU to break down e-barriers

The Republic of Croatia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the EU to join the ISA Programme. ISA, which stands for "Interoperability Solutions for European Public Administrations", takes a practical approach in supporting easier communication between administrations across Europe.

Participation of the candidate countries in Union programmes is an important element of the Pre-Accession Strategy. By joining the ISA programme, Croatia will become familiar with EU policies in the field of interoperability, one of the key elements identified in the flagship initiative Digital Agenda for Europe (DAE).

The ISA programme facilitates cross-border and cross-sector interaction between European public administrations, enabling the delivery of electronic public services and ensuring the availability of common solutions. It is one of the instruments used to carry out the DAE and its priorities are based on the recently adopted European Interoperability Strategy and the European Interoperability Framework.

The ISA Programme was preceded by the IDABC Programme, in which Croatia successfully participated from 2007 onwards. The key challenge for ISA with regard to Croatia and indeed all candidate countries is to support the implementation of the ‘acquis communautaire’ in the candidate countries, to integrate them in the internal market and to provide pan-European e-government services to citizens and enterprises across borders.

The ISA programme is managed by the Commission in close cooperation with the EU Member States, EEA and candidate countries, represented on the programme's management committee.

Background

The Commission’s work in the area of electronic cooperation and communication between Member States began with the simple electronic exchange of information between European public administrations under the IDA programme. Continuing these activities, the IDABC programme then shifted the approach towards a stronger consideration of end-user needs and a stronger focus on developing common solutions for all public administrations.

The participation of the Republic of Croatia in all Union programmes was established in the Framework Agreement of 22 November 2004.

Source : European Commission Press Release 1/2/2011.