"EU integration speed depends on Serbia"

Outgoing European Commission delegation chief in Belgrade Josep Lloveras says the speed of the country's EU integration will mostly depend on Serbia. He told FoNet news agency in an interview on Sunday in Belgrade that consensus is growing among political parties in Serbia that there is no alternative to European integration if they wish to improve the living standards of the people. "EU integration speed depends on Serbia" The direction has been confirmed, but the speed will mostly depends on the efforts of the government and on how much the citizens continue to actively support integration, Lloveras said. The speed of integration also depends on the development of the world economic crisis, and on the institutional reforms within the European Union, "but mostly on Serbia", he reiterated. The decision to apply for EU member status is a political decision which is up to the Serbian government, he continued, "but it is logical that the application to be submitted at a point when a positive answer could be received from all EU member-states". “The logical sequence of events would be to first get the interim trade agreement and the Stabilization and Association Agreement unfrozen. It is very positive that Serbia is unilaterally implementing the interim trade agreement on its own initiative. When these conditions are fulfilled, applying for candidate status will be the next logical step,” he said. One of the more important steps towards the EU will be visa liberalization, which Serbian citizens can expect by the beginning of next year. Director of the Serbian government’s Office for European Integration Milica Delevic was also quoted commenting on the subject. “Everything we have covered toward the visa-free regime – which I hope will really happen very soon, in some six months – is a great lesson to us and the EU—for us that when a job is really done at home, there is progress towards Europe, and for the EU that when it has a clear list of conditions and a clear and determined goal a lot gets done at home,” she said. By October 1, Serbia is expected to adopt the national strategy for administering migration and the action plan for fighting organized crime and drugs, in order to fulfill the obligations on the road map towards visa liberalization. Josep Lloveras (FoNet)

"EU integration speed depends on Serbia"

The direction has been confirmed, but the speed will mostly depends on the efforts of the government and on how much the citizens continue to actively support integration, Lloveras said.

The speed of integration also depends on the development of the world economic crisis, and on the institutional reforms within the European Union, "but mostly on Serbia", he reiterated.

The decision to apply for EU member status is a political decision which is up to the Serbian government, he continued, "but it is logical that the application to be submitted at a point when a positive answer could be received from all EU member-states".

“The logical sequence of events would be to first get the interim trade agreement and the Stabilization and Association Agreement unfrozen. It is very positive that Serbia is unilaterally implementing the interim trade agreement on its own initiative. When these conditions are fulfilled, applying for candidate status will be the next logical step,” he said.

One of the more important steps towards the EU will be visa liberalization, which Serbian citizens can expect by the beginning of next year.

Director of the Serbian government’s Office for European Integration Milica Delević was also quoted commenting on the subject.

“Everything we have covered toward the visa-free regime – which I hope will really happen very soon, in some six months – is a great lesson to us and the EU—for us that when a job is really done at home, there is progress towards Europe, and for the EU that when it has a clear list of conditions and a clear and determined goal a lot gets done at home,” she said.

By October 1, Serbia is expected to adopt the national strategy for administering migration and the action plan for fighting organized crime and drugs, in order to fulfill the obligations on the road map towards visa liberalization.