22/01/2012
The positive outcome of Croatia's EU accession referendum on 22 January paves the way for the country to become the 28th member of the European Union on 1 July 2013.
Croatia first applied for EU membership in 2003 but talks did not begin until late 2005 due to the country’s failure to arrest General Ante Gotovina - wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on war crimes charges.
In October 2005 the ICTY said Croatia was cooperating fully with the tribunal and accession negotiations were launched.
A land ownership dispute with Italy followed which dragged on until mid-2006 until an agreement was reached.
More recently, a long-standing border dispute with Slovenia stalled talks for more than a year. A procedure for resolving the dispute was agreed in June 2010 which meant that final negotiations on EU membership could resume.
In its last progress report 
, the Commission says the country is a functioning market economy, has made good progress in the field of judicial and administrative reforms and meets the political criteria for an EU accession.
The country signed the accession treaty on 9 December 2011 and held a referendum on 22 January 2012, where Croatian citizens voted in favour of an EU membership. The Croatian Parliament and the Parliaments of all 27 Member States will now have to complete the ratification process, before Croatia can join the EU on 1 July 2013.
Timeline of developments:
22/01/2012 – Croatian citizens vote in favour of EU accession
09/12/2011 – Croatia signs EU accession treaty
05/12/2011 – Council approves accession of Croatia to the European Union
01/12/2011 – Parliament votes on accession treaty
12/10/2011 – Favorable opinion from the Commission on the accession of Croatia
03/10/2011 – Treaty accession text approved by the parties
30/06/2011 – EU closes accession negotiations
24/06/2011 – European Council agrees to conclude negotiations
10/06/2011 – Commission proposes closing negotiations
02/03/2011 – Commission adopts interim progress report
09/11/2010 – Commission adopts annual progress report
30/06/2010 – Croatia opens final three policy-related chapters
12/02/2008 – Council adopts second Accession Partnership – framework of the pre-accession process for each candidate country
01/01/2007 – Entry into force of the new instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance
03/10/2005 – Talks officially begin following ICTY assessment
16/12/2004 – EU leaders approve opening of membership talks, on condition of full cooperation with ICTY
18/06/2004 - European Council confirms Croatia as candidate country
20/04/2004 – Commission recommends EU open negotiations with Croatia
21/06/2003 – Thessaloniki European Council confirms accession perspective of Croatia
21/02/2003 – Croatia submits application for EU membership
29/10/2001 – Signature of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement - including provisions for future EU membership (entry into force 01/02/2005)
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