The European Commission recommended that Croatia joins the border-free Schengen area, more than four years after the Balkan country applied for membership.
Croatia became an EU member in 2013 but to join the Schengen area it had to convince Brussels that it was able to effectively manage the bloc’s external border, a particularly sensitive issue since Europe’s 2015 migrant crisis.
Membership of the Schengen zone is expected to benefit the Croatian economy and its tourism sector which accounts for nearly one fifth of the country’s output, as checks to the cross-border movement of people would be removed.
“Croatia has taken the measures to ensure that the necessary conditions are met (to join Schengen),” said the EU commissioner for migration Dimitris.