Pregledni rad
CROATIAN REFERENDUM FOR THE EUROPEAN UNION: ANATOMY OF A BELATED (LACK OF) SUCCESS
Damir Grubiša
; Fakultet političkih znanosti Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
In this text, consequences of the Croatian referendum for the EU held on January
22, 2012 are analyzed from various standpoints and from the angle of the
controversy which it caused in the public, but also in the expert and scientific
discourse in Croatia. The author first discusses the holding of the referendum
in the context of its date-setting, which brought about a dispute between
the government and the opposition and a part of the Eurosceptic public. Second,
controversy arose regarding participation in the referendum, which is
approached here in the context of irregularity accusations. Third, there is the
issue of the referendum’s legality and legitimacy, and the author draws a comparison
with referenda held in other accession countries – not only in the fifth
round of enlargement with post-communist and Mediterranean countries, but
also in other countries where the referendum did not have a positive outcome.
Relying on the available facts and variable analysis related to the referendum,
the author then asserts that the Croatian referendum for the EU was undoubtedly
successful, that its results, both with regard to the participation and the outcome,
were even better than in many post-communist countries of the fifth
enlargement. Finally, the reasons for the tardiness of Croatia’s EU accession
in contrast to the other Middle-European and Eastern-European countries and
Slovenia are analyzed. It is viewed as a consequence of wrong political estimations
and decisions. The author also focuses on the informational and
educational deficit regarding the EU in Croatia, and finds that the Croatian
citizens are poorly informed on the EU because of specific decisions of the
government. Still, the result of the referendum met with positive reactions of
EU political bodies and the member states, which opens up the process of ratification
in other EU countries that should lead to full membership of Croatia
in the EU on July 1, 2013.
Ključne riječi
referendum; European Union; EU accession of Croatia; participation in the referendum; voter lists; informational deficit; educational deficit; communicational strategy; referendum legitimacy; Euroscepticism
Hrčak ID:
84622
URI
Datum izdavanja:
6.6.2012.
Posjeta: 2.745 *