DSS: Deal with EU legally invalid

A DSS expert legal team has ascertained that the SAA and the transitional agreement on trade with the EU are legally invalid. According to the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) analysis, without further engagement between Brussels and Belgrade on tidying up the ambiguous clauses in the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) and the trade agreement, they cannot be ratified by the Serbian parliament. DSS: Deal with EU legally invalid Neither agreement in their current form are in keeping with international law or the Constitution, say the DSS legal experts. “It is clear that these agreements contain vital loopholes that render it invalid,” reads the analysis. “It is certain that these loopholes cannot be resolved without further engagement by the parties concerned,” states the analysis’s conclusion, warning that the agreement in its current form cannot be rubber-stamped by parliament. "According to the Vienna Convention, at the moment of ratification in the Serbian parliament, the contractual parties should absolutely agree about the text of the agreement. Furthermore, in order for the SAA to be ratified, the text of the agreement should fully comply with the Serbian Constitution." "These are clear and simple conditions and if they are not met, the SAA will be unable to realize its main goal - association and preparations for Serbia to join the EU," the DSS experts stated. Meanwhile, the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), that the DSS hopes to join forces with in the next cabinet, said it will, along with its pre-election coalition partners, consider today's legal analysis of the SAA in the coming days. Previously, the Socialists called on Vojislav Kostunica's DSS to declare itself on the pre-accession agreement with the EU, signed but not yet ratified. SPS leader Ivica Dacic said today that this consideration will come "in a day or two". But DSS rivals Democrats (DS) reacted by saying that this "so-called legal analysis is a confirmation of Kostunica's promise to annul this agreement". "Kostunica and the DSS have definitively confirmed their anti-European orientation and readiness to at any price, including isolation and Serbia's economic deterioration, annul the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union," a party statement issued in Belgrade today reads. The DS also says the DSS announcements that "despite the agreement being legally invalid, solutions will be found for closer ties with the EU, are the crudest attempt at deception of the public, the majority of which has given its backing to European integrations".

DSS: Deal with EU legally invalid

Neither agreement in their current form are in keeping with international law or the Constitution, say the DSS legal experts.

“It is clear that these agreements contain vital loopholes that render it invalid,” reads the analysis.

“It is certain that these loopholes cannot be resolved without further engagement by the parties concerned,” states the analysis’s conclusion, warning that the agreement in its current form cannot be rubber-stamped by parliament.

"According to the Vienna Convention, at the moment of ratification in the Serbian parliament, the contractual parties should absolutely agree about the text of the agreement. Furthermore, in order for the SAA to be ratified, the text of the agreement should fully comply with the Serbian Constitution."

"These are clear and simple conditions and if they are not met, the SAA will be unable to realize its main goal - association and preparations for Serbia to join the EU," the DSS experts stated.

Meanwhile, the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), that the DSS hopes to join forces with in the next cabinet, said it will, along with its pre-election coalition partners, consider today's legal analysis of the SAA in the coming days.

Previously, the Socialists called on Vojislav Koštunica's DSS to declare itself on the pre-accession agreement with the EU, signed but not yet ratified.

SPS leader Ivica Dačić said today that this consideration will come "in a day or two".

But DSS rivals Democrats (DS) reacted by saying that this "so-called legal analysis is a confirmation of Koštunica's promise to annul this agreement".

"Koštunica and the DSS have definitively confirmed their anti-European orientation and readiness to at any price, including isolation and Serbia's economic deterioration, annul the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union," a party statement issued in Belgrade today reads.

The DS also says the DSS announcements that "despite the agreement being legally invalid, solutions will be found for closer ties with the EU, are the crudest attempt at deception of the public, the majority of which has given its backing to European integrations".