The European Commission will be monitoring Croatia's compliance with its commitments from the completion of the accession negotiations to European Union membership through regular reports once a year, while for three negotiation chapters - "Judiciary and Fundamental Rights", "Competition Policy" and "Justice, Freedom and Security" - reports will be compiled twice a year, diplomatic sources said on Friday.

According to a diplomatic source who saw the draft negotiating positions which the Commission sent to the Council of the EU yesterday, the Commission will issue a regular progress report on October 12 and a comprehensive monitoring report in the autumn of 2012.

The monitoring will include monitoring tables, which the European Commission has already used for all provisionally closed negotiating chapters, and visits by expert delegations to Croatia, the so-called peer missions.

Asked by the press about possible sanctions in case Croatia was not implementing what it had pledged, Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele mentioned only warning letters, but said he was confident that they would not be necessary.

Regarding the "Judiciary and Fundamental Rights" chapter, in which the track record is especially important, namely proof that reforms are being implemented and that the reformed judiciary is producing results, and the "Competition Policy" and "Justice, Freedom and Security" chapters, the European Commission will make assessments every six months, the diplomatic source said.

According to the draft negotiating positions, Croatia can accede to the Schengen Area without internal border controls once it begins fully implementing the regulations of the Schengen Agreement, which has to be confirmed by the European Commission.

The decision on accession to the Schengen Area is adopted by member countries unanimously after consultations with the European Parliament. The same accession rules were applied in the previous enlargement rounds as well.