Accession of Croatia to the European Union (Paperback)

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. Croatia is expected to join the EU in 2010, but there are some doubts regarding the enlargement timeline following the Irish rejection of the Treaty of Lisbon in a referendum. After the Irish referendum, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany stated in June 2008 that the EU will not expand beyond 27 states without reform of the current Treaty of Nice rules even though the treaty allows for such an enlargement. The Treaty of Lisbon would reform the EU, but was stalled in the ratification process, pending a second Irish referendum and ratification by Poland and the Czech Republic. In October 2009, Ireland approved the treaty following the second referendum, followed by ratification in Poland.