EU ministers: Talks date in January at latest

LUXEMBOURG The foreign ministers of the EU states recommended to the heads of state and government that they should decide on Friday to open Serbia's EU entry talks. This should happen in January 2014 at the latest, said Eamon Gilmore, the foreign minister of Ireland, which is holding the EU Presidency. EU ministers: Talks date in January at latest "We hope and expect that the European Council will follow this recommendation," Gilmore told a new conference after the meeting of the General Affairs Council which lasted the entire day in Luxembourg. On Tuesday, the foreign ministers backed in principle the opening of entry talks with Serbia, but they left the final decision to the Council which is to convene on June 27-28 in Brussels. Gilmore underlined that the European Commission was asked to immediately set to work to draft a negotiation platform so that the talks could begin as soon as possible. At the same time, it was recommended that Kosovo should begin talks on a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) within the same time frame, the Irish minister said. "I believe this will encourage Serbia and Kosovo to endure on the way to the full normalization of relations," he said. EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule said at the joint press conference that the foreign ministers unanimously delivered these recommendations. Of course, we at the European Commission have great expectations that, based on these recommendations, the Council will open negotiations with Serbia on June 28, he said. After that, the Council will adopt the framework and schedule an intergovernmental conference (IGC) for January next year at the latest, Fule said. The IGC is an important formal step in the negotiation process, at which it is decided which chapter will be opened first. The commissioner underscored that the Council could schedule the IGC even before January, and that the Commission will complete all technical preparations, including the drafting of the platform, by October, as well as preparations for the screening which relates to the assessment of the situation in a candidate country concerning certain chapters. These will be Chapters 23 and 24 which relate to the basic rights and the rule of law, Fule said. This is a good day for Serbia and Kosovo, the commissioner said, noting that Belgrade and Pristina surpassed the expectations which the Commission had of them, and now it is the European Council's turn to fulfill its part. Fule especially underlined that there are no new conditions for Serbia, nor there has been any shifting of the goalposts. However, it remains to be specified whether the EU heads of state and government or foreign ministers should be the ones to decide on the IGC, as that was subject of intense debate on Tuesday. As Tanjug learned in diplomatic circles, Germany and some other countries requested that the decision on the IGC, which has so far always been delivered by the ministers, be shifted onto a higher level, the European Council, but a majority of countries opposed this stance. Replying to a reporter's question about this, Fule said that the most important thing for the Commission is that the European Council decides on Friday to launch preparations, and that everything else is just a technical problem. There will be no need for the Council to confirm again the start of talks, unless it decides to open talks before January, he said. This is not a two-step process, Fule said, alluding to Tuesday's statement of a senior official of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Andreas Schockenhoff, who said that Germany is in favor of granting Serbia the green light for preparations for entry talks, but that a decision on when the talks will begin will be made at a later date. It is up to the European Council to decide at what level the decision on the IGC will be delivered, Fule said, explaining that that in the recommendations that the Council drafted on Tuesday, this issue was put in brackets, which means that the foreign ministers did not reach a consensus regarding that matter. Contrary to the common practice, the text of recommendations from Tuesday's meeting was not distributed to reporters, and will be made available on Friday. Tanjug

EU ministers: Talks date in January at latest

"We hope and expect that the European Council will follow this recommendation," Gilmore told a new conference after the meeting of the General Affairs Council which lasted the entire day in Luxembourg.

On Tuesday, the foreign ministers backed in principle the opening of entry talks with Serbia, but they left the final decision to the Council which is to convene on June 27-28 in Brussels.

Gilmore underlined that the European Commission was asked to immediately set to work to draft a negotiation platform so that the talks could begin as soon as possible.

At the same time, it was recommended that Kosovo should begin talks on a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) within the same time frame, the Irish minister said.

"I believe this will encourage Serbia and Kosovo to endure on the way to the full normalization of relations," he said.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule said at the joint press conference that the foreign ministers unanimously delivered these recommendations.

Of course, we at the European Commission have great expectations that, based on these recommendations, the Council will open negotiations with Serbia on June 28, he said.

After that, the Council will adopt the framework and schedule an intergovernmental conference (IGC) for January next year at the latest, Fule said.

The IGC is an important formal step in the negotiation process, at which it is decided which chapter will be opened first.

The commissioner underscored that the Council could schedule the IGC even before January, and that the Commission will complete all technical preparations, including the drafting of the platform, by October, as well as preparations for the screening which relates to the assessment of the situation in a candidate country concerning certain chapters.

These will be Chapters 23 and 24 which relate to the basic rights and the rule of law, Fule said.

This is a good day for Serbia and Kosovo, the commissioner said, noting that Belgrade and Pristina surpassed the expectations which the Commission had of them, and now it is the European Council's turn to fulfill its part.

Fule especially underlined that there are no new conditions for Serbia, nor there has been any shifting of the goalposts.

However, it remains to be specified whether the EU heads of state and government or foreign ministers should be the ones to decide on the IGC, as that was subject of intense debate on Tuesday.

As Tanjug learned in diplomatic circles, Germany and some other countries requested that the decision on the IGC, which has so far always been delivered by the ministers, be shifted onto a higher level, the European Council, but a majority of countries opposed this stance.

Replying to a reporter's question about this, Fule said that the most important thing for the Commission is that the European Council decides on Friday to launch preparations, and that everything else is just a technical problem.

There will be no need for the Council to confirm again the start of talks, unless it decides to open talks before January, he said.

This is not a two-step process, Fule said, alluding to Tuesday's statement of a senior official of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Andreas Schockenhoff, who said that Germany is in favor of granting Serbia the green light for preparations for entry talks, but that a decision on when the talks will begin will be made at a later date.

It is up to the European Council to decide at what level the decision on the IGC will be delivered, Fule said, explaining that that in the recommendations that the Council drafted on Tuesday, this issue was put in brackets, which means that the foreign ministers did not reach a consensus regarding that matter.

Contrary to the common practice, the text of recommendations from Tuesday's meeting was not distributed to reporters, and will be made available on Friday.