Croatia will become a EU member state on July 1 2013, after having concluded the accession talks before this summer, according the Zagreb Jutarni List daily.

A head of Friday's meeting of permanent representatives of EU member countries in Brussels, the paper says they will hold a debate on concluding Croatia's accession talks, as well as a tentative date when the country could become a full-fledged member, EMportal reports.

Zagreb's optimism is fueled by the expectation that EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele's report to the EU officials will say that Croatia has made major progress in the chapter on the judiciary and fundamental rights and that the officials will give a green light on closing it, as well as the chapter on market competition.

Unnamed EU diplomats have told Jutarni List that the accession talks will most likely be closed in June or possibly July 2011.

Croatia applied for European Union membership in 2003, and the European Commission recommended making it an official candidate in early 2004. Candidate country status was granted to Croatia by the European Council in mid-2004. The entry negotiations, while originally set for March 2005, began in October that year together with the screening process.

novinite.com