The Lisbon Strategy in the Wider European Context rather combine the Lisbon experiences with the reform framework they have to undertake. There are good examples in some old(Ireland, after 1986) and new EU member states(Slovakia after Meciar, or the Baltic countries) that implemented deep reforms which were usually difficult at the beginning but proved fruitful in the long run. These states, already EU members or aiming to achieve it, put efforts into creating flexible and entrepreneurship-friendly economies with a limited role of the government. The Lisbon Process, while not ideal in its essence and method, can be used as a stimulus for such a policy. However, the effectiveness of the Lisbon Strategy cannot be overestimated, because the most important economic reforms have to be accepted and implemented at the national level, not the EU one( Radlo). THE LISBON STRATEGYAND CROATIA Croatia has the status of EU candidate and negotiating country. Reaching the level of internal readiness for EU integration by the end of 2007 and full membership in 2009 is a target of the Croatian Government. To summarise, Croatia applied for EU membership in February 2003 and received positive avis in April 2004. The main findings of the avis(European Commission, 2004) underlined that Croatia was a functioning democracy with stable institutions guaranteeing the rule of law, and had a functioning market economy which should be able to cope with competitive pressure within the Union in the medium term, with a precondition that it continues implementing reforms. It was noted that Croatia should be in a position to undertake the other obligations of membership in the medium term, if considerable efforts are made to align its legislation with the acquis and ensure implementation and enforcement 4 . The avis was accompanied by a European Partnership for Croatia which identified the short- and medium-term priorities during the preparation for accession. In June 2004, the European Council confirmed Croatia as having candidate status for EU membership and made a decision on opening negotiations on full membership in due time. The pre-accession strategy for Croatia(October 2004) opened the door for access to pre-accession funds in 2005. The European Council(June 2005) adopted the negotiation framework 4. Similar statement was repeted in the Progress Reports for Croatia published by European Commission in the years that followed. 19