The three-month deadline for the European Commission (EC) to issue its stance on Slovenia's announcement that it would sue Croatia at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) expired today. In its decision, the EC refused to take a stance on the matter, and opted to remain a neutral observer and a mediator.

The European Commission will remain neutral and will not join Slovenia in its announced lawsuit against Croatia for not implementing the arbitration’s border ruling, EC’s spokesman Margaritis Schinas told reporters in Brussels on Monday.

The announced lawsuit concerns the June 2017 border arbitration ruling determining the land and sea borders between the two countries, which Croatia does not recognise whereas Slovenia does.

There are many signs that the caretaker government of Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar, which will remain in charge until a new government is formed following the recent election, will continue to insist on referring the case to the CJEU, in spite of the European Commission’s reserved stance, Slovenian media speculated on Monday.

“Almost a year after the ruling has been made, there has been no breakthrough in its implementation (by Croatia). Earlier signs that the EC might be soft on Croatia due to political calculations have become true, as Brussels does not wish to use instruments at its disposal to pressure Zagreb,” Monday’s daily Delo said in its commentary on Monday.

According to Slovenia’s state news agency STA, Slovenia is formally free to file a case at the CJEU in Luxembourg starting on Tuesday, as Cerar’s government had announced it would.

According to Delo, by interpreting the border dispute as a bilateral issue of two EU member states, the Commission did not take a neutral stance, but supported Croatia’s view, as Ljubljana sees it as an issue of the rule of law.

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