The readiness of the public administration for European Union accession

Abstract

Institution building is crucial for successful integration into the European Union (EU). Through the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), Croatia bound itself to strengthen institutions at all levels in the area of the administration, priority areas being protection of competition and state aid. According to the demands that the EU has made on the public administrations of the accession countries in the pre-accession period, we shall identify the criteria for membership. We shall define the level of the fulfilment of conditions for membership and the measures that should be carried out during the process of the reform in Croatia by a comparative analysis of the state of affairs in Croatia, the candidates and the EU members. The main conclusion is that institutional weakness in Croatia is the outcome of failure to define the priorities and the timetable for the implementation of given reforms.