THE STATE OF THE CROATIAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION ACCORDING TO THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION'S PROGRESS REPORT IN 2007

Following the decision of the Council of Europe (June 2004), Croatia acquired the status of a candidate country. In its annual report, the European Commission has been assessing the progress of the Republic of Croatia in meeting the political and economic criteria for full membership and the country's ability to implement the EU acquis communautaire for the past three years. On its way to full membership, Croatia is faced with comprehensive reforms of its political and economic systems and a thorough adaptation to the EU standards. The Commission stresses that the reforms of the public administration system are of particular importance. The author discusses some other important documents that assess readiness of the Croatian public administration to become part of the "European family". The author concludes that Croatia will show maturity required for the EU accession only after it has achieved a clear political consensus.