Croatia News - CroatiaPress.com

Zagreb, March 1 (CP) – The parliament speaker Luka Bebic has revealed to the media the compromise solution that Croatia is ready to offer Italy and Slovenia regarding the Protected Ecology and Fisheries Belt (ZERP). Bebic said that Croatia would offer both Italy and Slovenia to fish in ZERP for a fee.

This is the solution Croatia is expected to offer at a quadrilateral meeting, which Slovenia has agreed to and Italy has still not responded to.

A representative of Croatian fishermen’s union has welcomed the proposal saying that this kind of a solution usually worked in practice, as the country that offers fishing in its Belt calculates its fish surplus and then allows others to fish by paying a fee.

The response by Italy and Slovenia to this proposal will probably be known on March 13, when the European Council will be in session, it’s meeting possibly serving as a platform for a quadrilateral meeting of Croatia, Slovenia, Italy and the EU.

The implementation of ZERP by Croatia as of January 1, 2008 against two EU countries, Italy and Slovenia has resulted in its EU accession talks stalling, as the two countries are claiming Croatia had signed a document in 2004 that prevents it from implementing ZERP against EU members.

However, the Croatia side is claiming this was just simple meeting minutes and not a binding document.