In December of 2007 President Mesic gave his French colleague support in creating the Mediterranean Union By the start of July of this year the national air carrier Croatia Airlines is to order four new A319 type aircraft from the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus, worth about 200 million euro, Nacional has learned from sources close to Croatian Government. The decision to purchase the four new aircraft is linked to the French presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2008, i.e. the strengthening of the Croatian position in regards to France, which should result in the quickening of the pace of the process of Croatia's negotiations with the EU for a target accession date of the end of 2009.
Nacional's source has indicated that they cannot say for sure whether or not the aircraft have, in fact, already been ordered, but it is entirely certain that it is to be done by July, when France begins its presidency of the EU. One should not forget a similar scenario that took place on the eve of Croatian accession to the Council of Europe in November of 1996. Just prior to it, that same year, the late President Franjo Tudjman decided that Croatia Airlines would purchase the European Airbus aircraft instead of the American Boeing, which resulted in a stronger French and German engagement in favour of Croatia's accession to the Council of Europe.

The future terminal for the delivery of the new airplanes It is understandable that Croatian Government wants, by the purchase of the aircraft produced by the Airbus Company, based in France's Toulouse and employing 57 thousand people across Europe, mostly French, to bolster its position in the negotiation process. One should also not forget the fact that the state of France has a significant stake in the ownership structure of Airbus, making the choice of a way of establishing closer ties to France a quite pragmatic one. Croatia does not expect as much from any of the other countries presiding over the EU as it does from France, which takes over the helm of the EU on 1 July 2008. The negotiations, which have over the past two years been more closed than open would now, it is the Croatian expectation, really shift into fifth gear. It is, in fact, the French presidency that will be key to the eventual accession of Croatia to the EU by the end of 2009. Only if all of the chapters in the negotiating process are opened during the French presidency can Croatia expect to be accepted to membership by the desired date. Anything else, and above all the opening of negotiation chapters only by 2009, would be a failure for the Croatian diplomacy and would put off EU accession by several years. The decision to purchase the aircraft had to be well timed, because any such purchase serves to achieve political ends. The current Croatia Airlines fleet of Airbus A319's numbers four aircraft that arrived in Croatia from 1998 to 2000. That means that the purchase could have been put off a year or two, and then move to modernise the fleet and procure new aircraft.

---

Since the wait for delivery is three to four years the aircraft would arrive in Croatia by 2013 to replace the existing four Airbus A319's, 14 years old by then on the average, which makes them easily sellable on the market, as the average age of some air fleets in the world is up to twenty years. But some political gain had to be made for Croatia from it all, making the choice of placing this kind of order precisely at the time of the French presidency of the EU, or rather somewhat before it, a completely logical one given the benefit Croatia can have from it. The aircraft ordered this year will arrive in Croatia by 2012. In the negotiating process France will insist above all on the Croatian reform of the judiciary and public administration, the war on corruption, the restructuring of certain sectors of the economy such as shipbuilding and improved management of European funds. Jean-Pierre Jouyet, State Secretary for European Issues at the French foreign ministry, stated during a recent official visit to Croatia that there was agreement in the position that the French presidency of the European Union would be the deciding phase in the process of Croatia's accession to the EU. He also said that France intends to open all of the remaining chapters with Croatia. This French attitude was to be recognised in some fashion and encouraged, something Croatia will do with this purchase. The choice of the Croatia Airlines Company as the chief lever in strengthening the Croatian position during the French presidency is not coincidental and also makes sense because Ivan Misetic, the CEO at Croatia Airlines, has excellent relations with the French diplomacy and business people.
On 11 September of 2007 Misetic received l’Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur, the Order of the Legion of Honour, conferred upon him on behalf of the President of the French Republic by France's ambassador to Croatia François Saint-Paul. Misetic was awarded the order by the French president for his many years of promoting economic relations between Croatia and France, based on collaboration with aircraft manufacturer Airbus, aircraft motor manufacturer Snecma, the air carrier Air France and with the Saint Jean Industrie Company. France's ambassador François Saint-Paul thanked Ivan Misetic for his support and contributions in the cooperation between the University of Zagreb and the University of Orleans, and underlined his role in promoting tourism and cultural ties between the two countries.

Croatia is ordering four aircraft of this type with a seating capacity of 136 worth about 200 million euro, and the arrival of the first Airbus A319 can be expected it three to four years Furthermore, a key detail in the story surrounding the Croatian efforts to open all of the chapters in the negotiating process during the French presidency of the EU is the fact that French President Nicolas Sarkozy highly valued his meeting with Croatian President Mesic in December of 2007 during which Mesic expressed his support for the creation of a Mediterranean Union, at a time when there was quite a bit of debate in the EU over this French initiative. In the Mediterranean Union, an initiative spearheaded by French President Sarkozy, all of the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea would join a community that would serve as a bridge between Europe and Africa. The project is an important one for the French diplomacy because of its historic ties to the countries of northern Africa. Croatia is willing to participate in projects that relate to the protection of the environment, sustainable development, energy, fisheries and maritime traffic.
Just how important the creation of a Mediterranean Union is to the French is demonstrated by the fact that a summit is to be held in Paris on 13 and 14 July, immediately after France takes over the EU presidency. The meeting will pool representatives of northern and southern Mediterranean countries, including EU member states, and Croatia President Stjepan Mesic is to take part in its work, for whom it will be an opportunity to discuss the quickening of the pace of Croatia's EU negotiating process with the French President. Another circumstance favourable to Croatia ahead of the French presidency of the EU in the second half of this year are the ever greater French investments in Croatia, especially over the last three years, which lends credence to the idea that France is ready to do all it can to see Croatia become a full member of the EU as soon as possible.

Airplanes from Hamburg

POLITICAL INTERESTS French President Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel with the top people at Airbus, controlled by France and Germany The Airbus Company started its operations as a consortium of European aircraft manufacturers in the late 1960s, with the aim of competing with US companies Boeing, Douglas and Lockheed in the field of aviation technologies.

Today Airbus employs 57 thousand people, French and German for the most part. The company manufactures about half of all the commercial passenger carrier aircraft in the world. The company is based in the French city of Toulouse where the final assembly of commercial aircraft is carried out.

Besides the final assembly in Toulouse, aircraft are also assembled in Hamburg. It is from Hamburg, in fact, that the new Airbus A319 aircraft will come to Croatia in three to four years time.

Gripen the favourite in the defence ministry tender

PRIME MINISTER SANADER with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and German Chancellor Angela Merkel; Croatia Airlines has purchased aircraft from both The choice of the European aircraft manufactured by Airbus, whose production facilities are for the most part owned by the French and Germans, could also have repercussions on the final outcome of the tender for the choice of a fighter plane for the Croatian Air Force. In Government the feeling is that enough has been undertaken when it comes to playing the "Franco-German card" in bolstering the Croatian negotiating position in the EU accession process.

Given that the Germans have a significant stake in the ownership of the Eurofighter GmbH Company, which manufactures the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, it is very likely that Croatian Government has, with the purchase of the Airbus aircraft, in fact excluded the Eurofighter as a possible choice for the Croatian Air Force, and also likely the offer of France's Dassault Mirage.

If Croatian Government remains consistent in this give and take, in which everything is geared towards EU accession by the end of 2009, Sweden's SAAB would then be the favourite with its JAS-39 Gripen aircraft. Sweden will, namely, preside over the EU in the second half of 2009, when the situation of Croatia must be entirely resolved. A scenario similar to that with Airbus this year is foreseen with the Swedes.