Deadline for European Commission's decision on arbitration dispute between Slovenia and Croatia expires today

LJUBLJANA, (Patria) - The three-month deadline for the European Commission to decide on Slovenia's announcement to sue Croatia before the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg due to the non-implementation of last year's arbitration ruling on the border expires today. There are many indications that the technical government of Miro Cerar will insist on the lawsuit regardless of the reservations expressed by the Commission in the dispute between Ljubljana and Zagreb, Slovenian media reported today.

- Not even a year after the arbitration ruling was made, there has been no breakthrough towards its implementation. Signs that the European Commission leadership would yield to Croatia due to political calculations have now come true, as Brussels does not want to use the instruments of pressure at its disposal against Zagreb - Ljubljana's "Delo" states in its commentary, Hina reports.

The European Commission has not yet commented on Slovenia's intention to sue Croatia for alleged violation of European and international law. Since its reaction is not expected, Slovenia will formally have the opportunity from Tuesday onwards to independently submit the arbitration dispute with Croatia to the EU Court in Luxembourg, as announced from the very beginning by the government of Prime Minister Miro Cerar, which is nearing the end of its four-year term.

Regarding Brussels' stance, Ljubljana's "Delo" states that by interpreting the border dispute between the two member states as a bilateral issue, the Commission has "not taken a neutral position but has sided with Croatia." This, the paper adds, is also close to the assessment of Cerar's government that the dispute was not viewed as a legal problem, as Ljubljana interprets it, but was handled politically, "taking into account party affiliations." This reiterates the often-heard theses in Slovenia about alleged political bias in favor of Croatia, due to the dominance of the European People's Party (EPP) at the top of European institutions.

The paper states that in such circumstances, Slovenia has no choice but to sue Croatia in the EU court, and Cerar has had political support from the parties so far.

Slovenian politics has so far unanimously insisted that it must continue the initiated legal proceedings. Croatia's expectation that a different political landscape after the elections in Slovenia will change this and open new negotiations on the content of the arbitration seems unrealistic. Therefore, the path towards a lawsuit is the only option left for Slovenia in the current circumstances, even though it is undesirable within the Union for member states to sue each other," it is assessed.

Such a lawsuit, "Delo" states, would actually "depoliticize" the arbitration dispute and return it to the "legal" framework.

The lawsuit is not without risks, as the European court has not yet had such a case, but the entire matter would be depoliticized. Slovenia's room for maneuver would expand with a lawsuit, and the door would not be closed for Croatia to seek a creative solution that would allow the implementation of the ruling while still offering Croatia an honorable way out of the situation. Otherwise, a latent conflict between Ljubljana and Zagreb would arise, which in a few years might force Ljubljana to block Croatia's entry into Schengen or the eurozone, which would not be in anyone's interest, concludes the leading Slovenian newspaper.

Slovenia initiated proceedings before the European Commission in accordance with Article 259 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, arguing that Croatia, by not recognizing and implementing the arbitration decision of June 29, 2017, is violating EU law. Croatia argues against this and, at the Commission's request, emphasized this during the oral hearing on Slovenia's announced lawsuit.

Contrary to Slovenia, which claims that Croatia violated European and international law by rejecting the arbitration decision, and is therefore a bad example for countries in Southeast Europe that also have mutual disputes and want to join the EU, Croatia stated in its declaration before the Commission that it withdrew from the arbitration procedure, which it entered into in good faith before joining the EU, after Slovenia compromised it and thus undermined its credibility. However, Croatia stated that it is open to discussions on resolving the bilateral dispute, either bilaterally or before an international legal institution.