Croatia wrapped up its preparations to join the European Union on Thursday, June 30, after its vigorous anti-corruption reforms softened the bloc's reluctance to expand, Reuters reports.

After six years of negotiations, marred by EU concerns over slow judiciary reforms and Croatia's approach to its war-time past, the ex-Yugoslav state ended work on the final policy areas in which its laws needed to be adjusted to EU rules.

Its anti-graft efforts will continue to face EU scrutiny, however, while its accession treaty is being drafted in Brussels in the coming months and parliaments throughout the bloc ratify it. This may threaten Croatia's aim of joining the world's largest economic and trade bloc in July 2013, if reform progress is disappointing and lawmakers stall, EU diplomats say.

In Croatia, which would be one of the EU's poorest countries once admitted, policymakers are hoping for an economic boost from EU aid after accession and a rebound in foreign investment, decimated throughout the region by global woes.