A Polish diplomat told the Brussels press that Warsaw was pleased that such events had been taking place "against the mood of the crisis in Europe" and that the EU was still able to deliver "positive messages".
He explained that the consolidated text, which is the basis for ratification by member states, will now be sent to the European Commission and the Parliament, where a final debate and a ratification vote will be held on 1 December.
By the end of October translated versions of 300-page plus text will also be made available and sent to EU countries, where national ratification processes will also take place.
The Polish diplomat said it was not clear where the signing ceremony would take place. Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski recently told journalists that he would not mind seeing Croatia's treaty dubbed 'The Warsaw Treaty' after the name of the Polish capital, which is apparently keen to host the ceremony.
The accession treaty mentions the date 1 July 2013 for Croatia's accession, which remains subject to ratification in all member countries.
Croatia itself will hold a referendum on its accession immediately after the signing of the accession treaty. Holding an accession referendum is by no means an EU requirement, but a sovereign decision for Croatia. No referenda are planned in other EU countries on the occasion of Croatia's accession, about which public opinion in the EU is widely positive.
According to a recent opinion poll, public support for Croatia's EU accession is strong.
Croatia will hold parliamentary elections on 4 December and the country's press had been speculating that Poland might seek to have the accession treaty signed on 2 December, to help the Croatian Democratic Union of Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, which is European People's Party-affiliated like the Civic Platform of Polish PM Donald Tusk.
But the Polish diplomat made clear that the signing of the accession treaty would take place after the elections: in any case, after 5 December, when the last approval step will be taken by the EU Council.
The Polish diplomat also explained that post-Lisbon Treaty protocols accommodating the concerns of Ireland and the Czech Republic as a condition for their ratification of the EU's reform treaty would be ratified in parallel with Croatia's accession treaty, but would not be part of it.
Ireland secured guarantees that nothing in the Lisbon Treaty would affect current EU rules on taxation, that the treaty "does not affect or prejudice Ireland's traditional policy of military neutrality," and that it cannot overrule an Irish constitutional ban on abortion.
The 'Czech guarantees' addressed requests persistently made by Eurosceptic Czech President Václav Klaus, whose signature represented the last hurdle before the definitive adoption of the treaty. In particular, Prague obtained opt-outs from the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
It also became clear that Croatia would join without any post-accession monitoring mechanism similar to that which still applies to Bulgaria and Romania. The Polish diplomat said this was a "sign of confidence" in Croatia, but added that judicial reform and law enforcement would still be closely watched up to accession.
