Croatian Spin Doctors

Wall Street Journal

Review & Outlook

Croatian Spin Doctors
November 15, 2006

The European Union shells out millions of euros each year on translation services. How unfortunate, then, that the progress reports that the European Commission published last week for eight potential EU members are so far available only in English.

We're not pulling a Jacques Chirac, decrying the dominance of English. The shame here is the fact that the reports don't come in the languages spoken in the countries they scrutinize. That opens the door for politicians who aren't sufficiently committed to reforms to spin the results.

Take Croatia. After Bulgaria and Romania enter the EU in January, Croatia will be next in line. According to the EU report, though, Zagreb still has "no overall strategic framework" for reform. It lacks "clear and transparent rules and procedures with regard to elections and the forming of
governments at the local level." It is "still some way from enjoying an independent, impartial, transparent and efficient judicial system." And, "[m]any allegations of corruption remain uninvestigated and corrupt practices usually go unpunished." Those are just the political issues.

So how is the report being received in Croatia? As praise for the "progress . . . when it comes to reforms," if you listen to Prime Minister Ivo Sanader. Many Croats have no choice but to do so since the report isn't available in their mother tongue and, as the Commission noted, the
independence of the press is far from perfect.

The Commission says it's never provided candidate reports in their local languages and that this hasn't been a problem before. Well, maybe. But as the bloc expands to more distant frontiers, the number of reforms needed tends to rise and the freedom of the press and civil society to
encourage or even monitor them tends to fall.

Enlargement is one of the EU's most valuable functions, because it gives countries like Croatia added incentive to undertake painful but beneficial reforms. Perhaps few Croats would take the time to read these reports in their own language. But, knowing that their statements could be more
easily checked, their leaders might think twice about playing spin doctor.