In April 2011, José Manuel Barroso, then President of the European Commission, visited Zagreb and delivered a message that the criteria were not met and that Croatia would not join the EU, but would pass even further time in the waiting room alongside Serbia. .
The Croatian government, led by Jadranka Kosor, took this message seriously and reforms were accelerated. On July 1, 2013, Croatia became the 28th member state of the European Union. After ten years, Serbia and other Western Balkan countries seem further from this path than ever.
Negotiations with Croatia were neither quick nor easy. As with the rest of the countries of the former Yugoslavia, obstacles for official Zagreb included cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague, bilateral issues with neighbors, as well as the rule of law .
Additionally, as is the case today, there have been challenges from member states skeptical of enlargements, such as the Netherlands and France. However, the desire for enlargement among EU member states was somewhat greater than it is today. It is therefore not wrong to conclude that Croatia has taken the last train to join the European Union.
Unlike other Western Balkan countries, EU membership was truly the main foreign policy objective of all Croatian authorities since gaining independence. The country began negotiations in 2005 and the last chapters were closed on June 30, 2011.
During the decade of its membership, Croatia achieved all its European integration goals and, as of January 1, 2023, it became a member of both the Schengen Area and the Eurozone. During the first half of 2020, Croatia also held the Presidency of the European Union during the difficult crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Former European Parliament rapporteur for Croatia, Hannes Swoboda, said European Western Balkans that Croatia’s overall membership of the EU has been a success.
“At the time of its accession, there was still a certain desire for enlargement, and above all Germany made it clear to the Netherlands and France that the EU must welcome at least one additional country into the EU – above all also for the sake of the stability of the EU. Southeastern Europe,” recalls Swoboda.
The economy – the biggest advantage of EU membership
Before joining the EU, Croatia experienced a recession that lasted more than six years. The decline in real GDP between 2009 and 2014 amounted to 12.6 percent.
Just two years after joining the Union, GDP started to grow until 2020, when it fell by 8.6% due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, being a member of the European Union, assistance from Brussels has contributed to a rapid recovery, with growth reaching 13.1% in 2021.
For example, in 2013 Croatia had a GDP per inhabitant 61% of the European average, while last year it reached 73% of the European average. In the year they joined the EU, Croats had a GDP per capita of just over ten thousand euros, while in 2022 it would exceed seventeen thousand euros. Thus, in terms of GDP per capita, Croatia exceeds Slovakia or Greece.
Croatians also do well in terms of unemployment rates. In May this year, it was lower than 5.6 percent. Concretely, this means that Croatia has never had so many people employed.
An enlargement still in progress
Many believe that Russian aggression against Ukraine accomplished what seemed impossible: putting enlargement policy at the top of the European agenda. However, further enlargement still seems far away. Montenegro has the greatest chance of becoming the next member state of the European Union, as it has opened all negotiating chapters and is the one that has progressed the most in the negotiations.
Former MEP Swoboda says enlargement methods and strategies have changed considerably since then, especially with Ukraine and Moldova knocking on the European door.
In a notice published on the website of the International Peace Institute, Swoboda notes that all candidate countries aspiring to be part of the European family must be willing to implement necessary reforms and resolve national and regional conflicts.
Reflecting on the idea of gradual accession, Swoboda writes that it could offer clear support to all forces in the Western Balkan states struggling for the implementation of principles and values.