As part of South Eastern Europe Croatia, along with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, is involved in a range of international organisations, initiatives and projects, mostly concerned with economic assistance and European Union (EU) integration.

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As part of South Eastern Europe Croatia, along with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, is involved in a range of international organisations, initiatives and projects, mostly concerned with economic assistance and European Union (EU) integration. The main international initiatives, which are being undertaken in the region, are the EU-coordinated Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP), EU CARDS Assistance Programme to the Western Balkans and the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe (SP).

The SAP was established by way of a Commission proposal of 26 May 1999, primarily to enhance the EU regional approach in relation to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, FYR Macedonia and FR Yugoslavia. It was designed to encourage and support the domestic reform processes ongoing in these countries with the aim of ensuring long-term integration into the EU and with that aim Stabilisation and Association Agreements (SAAs) with these countries are entered into, for example to promote and sustain democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the resettlement of refugees and displaced persons.

The Council Regulation No 2666/2000 (EC), adopted on 5 December 2000, on assistance for Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia sets out the legal basis for the EU CARDS Assistance Programme to the Western Balkans (CARDS). CARDS is concerned with the participation of the five South Eastern European countries in the SAP. The main purpose of CARDS assistance, which is provided in the form of grants, is to support participation of those countries in the SAP. NGOs and ‘social partners’ in the five countries are directly eligible for Community assistance, as well as the states themselves, local bodies and entities under UN jurisdiction through programmes lasting three years. The objectives of CARDS are: integrated border management; democratic stabilisation; institution building and regional infrastructure development. The integrated border management objective emphasises the importance of strengthening the borders’ co-ordination, which includes external borders as well as borders between the five SAP countries themselves. CARDS is also focused on the development of a common approach on visa, asylum and migration policy.

The Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe (SP) is a treaty instrument dealing with the development of the South Eastern European region. It aims to encourage and strengthen co-operation between the countries of South Eastern Europe and streamline existing efforts to assist the political, economic and security integration of those countries into Europe. SP has a complex structure and many partners are involved however it does not itself implement the projects but rather coordinates and facilitates their implementation complementing the Stability Association Process. The EU is only one of the participating partners in the SP. (1) The SP agreements and initiatives on migration, such as capacity building, harmonisation of legislation on asylum procedures and managing migration flows and tackling illegal migration, were incorporated into the single Migration, Asylum, Refugees Regional Initiative (MARRI), in December 2002. The goals of MARRI are to promote within South Eastern Europe policy coherence and integrated, coordinated action at the national and regional level in the areas of asylum; combating illegal migration; refugee issues; and the development of a selective labour scheme. Initiatives on combating illegal immigration would require better information exchanges among border authorities, for example through a forum for dialogue, co-ordination of all initiatives in this field and harmonised training of staff.

Analysis provided by: Anisa Niaz LLM (Public Law), United Kingdom.

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