Mayor Obersnel said that at the meeting new joint topics had been opened and that satisfaction had been expressed with the progress achieved in the context of closing the accession negotiations with Croatia.
"We addressed a couple of open issues including, among others, the shipbuilding industry. I reiterated the stance that I am well aware that we as the state have undertaken commitments to comply with the principle of competitiveness, however we should take into consideration the fact that the process of restructuring the shipyards was delayed and it, therefore, overlapped with the closure of negotiations and the European economic crisis, which certainly is far from being the best circumstance for a successful process of restructuring the shipbuilding industry. Recognising these facts should not be a constraint on the accession of Croatia to the EU," said mayor Obersnel.

Obersnel also pointed out insufficient transparency of information on the negotiations for the accession of Croatia to the EU and preparations for EU funds. „I expect that Croatia could face huge problems as all the cities, communes and counties do not have equal capacities to be able to respond to very complex requests to prepare necessary documentation for various EU funds that will be available, starting, I hope, already from 2012," said Obersnel.

During the meeting with Mr Vandoren the city presented, among others, the project pipeline and project ideas devised by the City of Rijeka for EU pre-accession funds, as well as for the EU funds and programmes available for Croatia upon its accession to the EU (regional and structural funds and the Cohesion Fund, etc. ). Presently, the City of Rijeka, in various open tenders has bid for projects worth EUR 3.7 million, while the database currently contains about 190 projects for the Cohesion Fund and structural funds of the total value of EUR 1.7 billion.

For the press release, the Head of Delegation of the EU Vandoren pointed out that during the working meeting the course of negotiations had been discussed and two most important chapters, i.e. Chapter 23, Judiciary and fundamental rights and Chapter 8, Competition Policy which includes the restructuring of shipyards.
"The Ministry of the Economy has submitted a proposal to restructure some shipyards to the working group responsible for this chapter, and we at Brussels, within the Commission also discuss these plans and some new ones. We know that the Government wishes to analyse these proposals as soon as possible, and I am confident that the responsible bodies will present the final results concerning the shipyards' statues, but it requires a bit more time," said Vandoren.

Responding to the journalist's question whether in his opinion the Shipyard "3. maj" and the other Croatian shipyards have a future, Vandoren pointed out that he hoped so, but he also said that the future of the shipyards depended on restructuring plans. He expressed his hope that a satisfactory solution would be reached in the interest of all the parties.

As regards the accession of Croatia to the EU, Vandoren said that the only aspect he could emphasise was that in March 2011, the European Commission would present a financial report and an interim report on Chapter 23 to all the state members. If in line with these benchmarks, progress is established in negotiations, the closing date of negotiations could then be announced.

In addition to the mayor, vice mayor Miroslav Matešić was also present at the working meeting, whilst Ambassador Vandoren, arrived in Rijeka accompanied by Martin Mayer, political adviser.

Vandoren met with the Management Board of "3. maj" and the representatives of the trade union of "3. maj".

In the final part of his visit, Vandoren gave a lecture at the Faculty of the Economics in Rijeka, at 15:00 h, on the subject: "Croatia on Its Way to the EU: Main Challenges".
(S.R.)