ZAGREB, April 30, 2018 – The European Commission will not find any violations of European Union law by Croatia, as claimed by Slovenia in its complaint concerning the border arbitration ruling, and if Ljubljana takes the case to the Court of Justice of the EU, Zagreb will know how to respond, Andreja Metelko-Zgombić, state secretary at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, said in an interview with the N1 television channel on Monday.
Slovenia has brought the case before the European Commission in accordance with Article 259 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, claiming that, by not recognising and not implementing the arbitration ruling of June 29, 2017, Croatia is in breach of EU law. The proceedings before the Commission last three months during which both parties are to exchange written submissions and hold an oral hearing in the Commission.
Zagreb has submitted its written response to the complaint to the Commission and an oral hearing of Croatia, Slovenia and the Commission is scheduled for May 2. The Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Marija Pejčinović Burić has said earlier that it will be a legal and technical hearing.
Speaking ahead of the hearing, Metelko-Zgombić expressed confidence that the Commission would not find any violations of EU law by Croatia. “We believe that the European Commission will not find any trace of violation of EU law by Croatia,” she said, adding that after that Slovenia would have an option of referring the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union, in which case “Croatia will know how to respond.”
“In the meantime, there will be elections in Slovenia, so we hope that, after the formation of the new government, we will be able to continue productive talks, which have already begun and have produced concrete proposals on how to move forward and resolve this open border issue,” Metelko-Zgombić said.
