Croatia moved closer to the European Union today, making significant strides in its membership negotiations, while fellow EU hopeful Turkey was expected to take a smaller, symbolic step, dpa quoted officials as saying in Brussels. The two countries started talks at the same time in October 2005. The process involves following strict guidelines on how to align national legislation with EU standards in 33 technical dossiers, or so-called "chapters." "Congratulations Croatia for a big day," EU enlargement commissioner Stefan Fule said after an accession conference to marked the start of negotiations on three chapters related to competition; judiciary and fundamental rights; and foreign, security and defence policy. So far Croatia has closed talks on 20 chapters, meaning that work still is overdue on 13 technical dossiers. Later Wednesday, the EU was also expected to open a negotiating chapter with Turkey related to food safety standards. That move would take the number of opened dossiers between the two sides to 13, with negotiations closed on only one chapter. The tally reflects the far bigger political and technical hurdles Turkey faces in its membership bid, as compared to Croatia. -- SPA
