Counting for EU enlargement?:Census-taking in Croatia, Bosnia and Macedonia

The research addresses census-taking in Croatia, Bosnia and Macedonia. These countries are all part - or in the case of Croatia were part - of EU enlargement. In order to become an EU member they have to comply with certain conditions, and one of them is a population census. Even though these countries have to comply with the same conditions, they show a wide variation when it comes to census-taking. Ranging from less problematic (Croatia) to long delayed (Bosnia) and aborted (Macedonia). Analysing this variation is at the centre of the research, which concludes that although censuses are seen as technical statistical procedures, they are in fact highly political