Croatia updates its Judicial Reform Strategy and Action Plan and ensures effective implementation.

It invites Croatia to keep the EU regularly informed about the steps taken and planned in this regard.

Committed to pursuing co-ordinated measures and plans in order to combat cross-border crime more effectively;

Headquarters for the Contingency Plan for Accidental Marine Pollution in the Republic of Croatia Implementation

The Plan means the Sub-regional Contingency Plan for prevention of, preparedness for and response to major pollution incidents concerning Croatia, Italy and Slovenia.

As regards freedom of expression, the EU invites Croatia to implement its plans in this area ensuring that EU standards are met.

The coordination and planning of such cross-border operations shall be the responsibility of the central unit or of an office designated by it.

(5) A process for the production of plants or animals is essentially biological if it consists entirely of natural phenomena such as crossing or selection.

The EU invites Croatia to make substantial progress in providing accommodation to all other successful applicants for Housing Care on the basis of a fully costed plan.

The EU takes note of the information provided by Croatia concerning the judicial reform process and, in particular, of Croatia's commitment to implementing fully the Action plan of the Judicial Reform Strategy of June 2008, as well as the planned update of this document.

Croatia fully implements its Action Plan on the Housing Care Programme for refugees and former tenancy rights holders wishing to return to Croatia, including meeting the targets for 2008 and 2009 for the provision of accommodation both within and outside the areas of special state concern; Croatia makes substantial progress in providing accommodation to all other successful applicants for Housing Care on the basis of a fully costed plan;

The Contracting Parties shall inform each other about border crossings on their state territories through which they perform export, import and transit of plant consignments.

(b) Integrate, as far as possible and as appropriate, the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity into relevant sectoral or cross-sectoral plans, programmes and policies.

The Plan covers the area of the Adriatic Sea between the line connecting Bari (Italy) and Rt Ostro (Prevlaka) (Croatia) in the south, and the northern coast of the Gulf of Trieste in the north.

Croatia carries out a comprehensive study into the under-representation of minorities in the wider public sector not covered by the CARNM and adopts a plan to tackle the shortcomings identified;

(d) Promote in situ conservation of wild crop relatives and wild plants for food production, including in protected areas, by supporting, inter alia, the efforts of indigenous and local communities;

The EU also calls for the full implementation of Croatia's Action Plan on the Housing Care Programme for refugees and former tenancy rights holders wishing to return to Croatia, including meeting the targets for 2008 and 2009 for the provision of accommodation both within and outside the Areas of Special State Concern.

The EU underlines the importance of implementation by Croatia of its National Anti-corruption Strategy and Action Plan, and of ensuring legal and institutional stability of the anti-corruption framework.

Croatia continues to implement the rationalisation of municipal and misdemeanour courts, ensuring efficient operation of the merged courts, and sets out clearly the long term logistical and financial means for completing the court rationalisation process; Croatia adopts a clearly defined plan for rationalisation of county and commercial courts.

In February 2003 REMPEC organized in Malta a meeting of competent national authorities of Croatia, Italy and Slovenia, which discussed and agreed upon the outline of future plan and on the timetable for its preparation.

The EU notes the information provided by Croatia as regards measures aimed at the protection of minorities, including its Action Plan for the implementation of the Constitutional Act on the Rights of National Minorities (CARNM).

Acknowledging further that plant genetic resources for food and agriculture are the raw material indispensable for crop genetic improvement, whether by means of farmers' selection, classical plant breeding or modern biotechnologies, and are essential in adapting to unpredictable environmental changes and future human needs;

The Contracting Parties shall inform each other of planned legal or economic measures which are expected to have particular effects on the Alpine region or parts thereof, in order to give the utmost consideration to cross-border and regional requirements.

The EU also notes and underlines the importance of Croatia's plans to reform the appointment procedure for members of the SJC and SPC, to remove the scope for political interference in the work of these bodies, and to abolish the 5-year probation period for judges.

In this context, Croatia is invited to provide regular information on the implementation of the employment plans coordinated by the Ministry of Administration and to ensure concrete results are achieved, including through improved monitoring of their implementation.

The Plan was prepared as part of the project for the development of a Sub-regional System for preventing and combating major marine pollution incidents affecting or likely to affect the territorial sea, coasts and other related interests of Croatia, Italy and Slovenia in the Adriatic Sea.

The EU stresses the importance of Croatia updating its Judicial Reform Strategy and Action Plan and establishing a track record of their effective implementation, including by ensuring sufficient institutional capacity for the management of judicial reforms, including post-legislative scrutiny.

The EU also invites Croatia to improve access to information legislation and practices such that increased transparency is achieved, to improve implementation of the system of ethics and integrity in public administration and to ensure implementation of anti-corruption action plans in state owned companies.

Croatia implements its action plan for the review of in absentia cases and the new provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code on renewal of proceedings and deploying other legal remedies such as protection of legality, ensuring renewal of proceedings requests and renewed trials are properly and impartially handled by all relevant judicial authorities.

The EU also notes Croatia's plans for the reform of administrative justice based on the Law on Administrative Disputes, including the creation of a two-tier system of administrative courts and the rendering of the Administrative Court as a court of full jurisdiction in the meaning of Article 6 ECHR and Article 47 of the Charter of fundamental rights.

The EU invites Croatia to guarantee the independence of the Judicial Academy in practice, to improve the delivery of initial and in-service training, including on matters of EU law, and strengthening the relevant training institutions, including staff increases, and ensuring the planned State School for Judicial Officials carries out its role effectively.

(f) supporting, as appropriate, the wider use of diversity of varieties and species in on-farm management, conservation and sustainable use of crops and creating strong links to plant breeding and agricultural development in order to reduce crop vulnerability and genetic erosion, and promote increased world food production compatible with sustainable development; and

The EU underlines the importance of providing courts with sufficient resources to perform their duties and calls on Croatia to enhance and accelerate its efforts to implement the functional and physical mergers of municipal and misdemeanour courts as well as of prosecutor's offices and to adopt a clearly defined plan for rationalisation of county courts and commercial courts.

The EU notes Croatia's foreseen impact analysis of its anti-corruption strategy as well as its planned update of this strategy and its related action plan, which will see a greater focus on prevention measures such as tackling conflicts of interest, raising integrity and increasing transparency in the State Administration, and improving legislation on political party financing.

Croatia takes steps to ensure a tangible improvement in the level of employment of national minorities in state administration bodies and bodies of local and regional self-government, in the police and in the judiciary, and establishes an effective system of statistical monitoring, including through the adoption, implementation and monitoring of employment plans in all relevant bodies;

9.1 The Contracting Parties recognize the enormous contribution that the local and indigenous communities and farmers of all regions of the world, particularly those in the centres of origin and crop diversity, have made and will continue to make for the conservation and development of plant genetic resources which constitute the basis of food and agriculture production throughout the world.

In particular, Croatia should ensure an effective institutional mechanism of coordination for the implementation and monitoring of anti-corruption efforts, including further strengthening of the Ministry of Justice co-ordination structure and improving the capacity and performance of the Ministry of Administration given its broad responsibilities under the anti-corruption strategy and action plan.

Croatia increases transparency and integrity in public administration and state owned companies, including by improving legislation on the access to information and its implementation, by adopting, amending and implementing legislation necessary for full application of the General Administrative Procedures Act, by implementing anti-corruption action plans in state owned companies and by continuous training of staff;

The EU notes Croatia's commitment to amend the Aliens Act in order to fully align its provisions with Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the rights of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States, as well as its plans to provide civil servants with the necessary training to apply these provisions.

The EU also invites Croatia to implement its action plan for the review of in absentia cases, including implementation of the new provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code on renewal of proceedings and deploying other legal remedies such as protection of legality, thus ensuring that both the requests for the renewal of proceedings and any renewed trials are properly and impartially handled by all relevant judicial authorities.

The EU notes that the first intake to the State School for Judges and Prosecutors is planned for October 2010, with first appointments being made on completion of the school programme and examinations in 2012. The EU encourages Croatia to ensure that all necessary steps are taken in good time and underlines the particular importance it attaches to full and proper implementation of transitional provisions for the appointment of judges and prosecutors.

(3) The Commission Action Plan for Financial Services identifies a series of actions which are needed to complete the Single Market in Financial Services, and announces the development of supplementary prudential legislation for financial conglomerates which will address loopholes in the present sectoral legislation and additional prudential risks to ensure sound supervisory arrangements with regard to financial groups with cross-sectoral financial activities.

The purpose of the present Sub-regional Contingency Plan (the Plan) is to establish, within the framework of the Prevention and Emergency Protocol to the Barcelona Convention and according to the obligations of the Contracting Parties under this Protocol, a mechanism for mutual assistance, under which the competent national Authorities of Croatia, Italy and Slovenia will co-operate in order to co-ordinate and integrate their activities related to prevention and response to marine pollution incidents affecting or likely to affect the territorial sea, coasts and related interests of one or more of these countries, or to incidents surpassing the available response capacity of each of these countries alone.

(ii) Access to and transfer of technology to countries, especially to developing countries and countries with economies in transition, shall be carried out through a set of measures, such as the establishment and maintenance of, and participation in, crop-based thematic groups on utilization of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, all types of partnership in research and development and in commercial joint ventures relating to the material received, human resource development, and effective access to research facilities.

Being aware that a serious marine pollution incident may significantly damage on one hand the Adriatic ecosystem and on the other the economic activities in the region, including in particular tourism, fisheries and energy generation, the representatives of Croatia, Italy and Slovenia informed regular meetings of Focal Points of the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC) of their intention to start working towards the preparation and adoption of a sub-regional contingency plan covering the Adriatic Sea.

D/13 Industrial plants (including seeds for herbaceous oil-seed plants, excluding seeds for fibre plants, hops, tobacco and other industrial crops) of which:

«plant genetic resources» means those of agricultural crops, horticultural crops, medicinal plants and aromatics, fruit crops, forest trees and wild flora which are or could be of use in the field of agriculture;

in a standing crop of a given variety of hemp, the upper third of each plant selected shall be taken.

"plant genetic resources" means those of agricultural crops, horticultural crops, medicinal plants and aromatics, fruit crops, forest trees and wild flora which are or could be of use in the field of agriculture;