The start of Croatia's accession talks with the EU, which are to begin on 17 March, represents a new framework for solving Slovenian-Croatian open issues. The rules of conduct observed in the EU include abstention from unilateral moves such as was Croatia's declaration of the ecological and fisheries zone, PM Janez Jansa told the press on Tuesday.
Jansa believes it will be easier to solve some open issues in the wake of changes to Croatian legislation that will be necessary in order to bring it into line with European standards. Some issues will no longer be there after Croatia's EU accession, Jansa stressed, referring to property issues, one of them being the issue of bank account holders of a Croatian branch of the Slovenian bank Ljubljanska banka. Moreover, Jansa said the government has been preparing to assume the EU's presidency from the first day it took over. The country is due to be part of the first troika at the helm of the EU from the beginning of 2007 to mid-2008, or, if the constitution is not adopted, it will hold the rotating presidency in the first half of 2008. Jansa said the government would formalise the plan of preparations as early as January. According to him, the government will take the job seriously.
The government intends to pursue its policy of restrictive public spending in spite of the higher-than-expected economic growth in 2004, Prime Minister also told the press on Tuesday.
Jansa's comments come in response to Monday's announcement by the Institute for Macroeconomic Analysis and Development (IMAD) that economic growth this year is likely to beat autumn's 4 percent forecast.
"We intend to pursue a restrictive public finance policy in 2005 and 2006, with our primary goal being to fulfil criteria...for the adoption of the euro," the prime minister said.
Jansa added that the government will have even more reason to be happy if the inflation forecast of 3.6 percent is met, as this would mean that Slovenia is on a good path to meeting the convergence criteria for the euro.
"The figures are quite upbeat," Jansa told reporters, adding that he does not expect budget units to look to increase their spending as a result.
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