ZAGREB (Croatia), July 5 (SeeNews) – The European Commission has asked Slovenia and Croatia to implement the territorial arbitration ruling recently delivered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) - a decision Zagreb rejects.
After discussing the final award made on June 29 by the PCA, as regards the maritime and land borders between Croatia and Slovenia, the Commission hopes that both prime ministers can come to an agreement on how best to implement it, the EU executive body said in a statement late on Tuesday.
"The Commission takes good note of the final award and expects both parties to implement it," it noted, adding it stands ready to contribute to or facilitate this process. "Once we are on our way in this process the College will come back to the issue to discuss the progress and see how the Commission can help bring about a full implementation and just implementation of the award".
The prime ministers of Slovenia's and Croatia will meet on July 12 and have agreed that no unilateral steps would be taken before then. However, Croatia has already said it will ignore the PCA ruling, as the country's authorities believe that the arbitration process was compromised due to breaches on behalf of the Slovenian side.
Croatia had hoped the EU would respect its right to ignore the ruling. Namely, there is no mechanism of coercion for the implementation of PCA's arbitration rulings with parties left to enforce the court's decisions voluntarily.
On November 4, 2009, the governments of Croatia and Slovenia signed an agreement to submit their territorial and maritime dispute to arbitration, after they were unable to resolve it themselves.
The Tribunal was called upon to determine the course of the maritime and land boundary between Croatia and Slovenia, Slovenia’s junction to the high sea and the regime for the use of the relevant maritime areas.
On June 29, the PCA awarded Slovenia control over most of the contested Piran Gulf and a corridor to international waters.
The PCA is an independent intergovernmental organisation established by the 1899 Hague Convention on the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes.