Negotiator expects chapters 23 and 24 to be opened next year

Negotiator expects chapters 23 and 24 to be opened next year

"Chapters 23 and 24 are already in the EU procedure, within the action plans. They envisage how we protect human and minority rights, complete judicial reforms and the fight against corruption, regulate the issue of migrants and asylum seekers, all the way to the Schengen system, whatever its form may be at that time," Miscevic told the N1 broadcaster.

"Everything in chapter 23 will be very difficult, because the reform of the judiciary does not end with EU accession," she said.

"Unlike food safety standards, in this case there are no clear standards. You are choosing what was the basis of your legal system, and turned out to be good, connecting it with good practices of (EU) member states, taking into account the advice of experts, who often have conflicting opinions. That can make the process difficult," Miscevic explained.

Chapter 23 should also the length of judicial proceedings while the action plan envisages instruments and mechanisms to speed up those processes, including the introduction of a uniform judicial practice, distribution of cases to a larger number of judges and "introduction of IT in trials."

She added that chapter 23 provides for the creation of rules for the selection of judges and prosecutors, which passed to the control of the European Commission and EU institutions, who said that the criteria are fully in line with the practices.

"Our system provides that the assembly elects prosecutors and judges, and that's one of the things that will be changed by changing the constitutional system," she noted.

Referring to chapter 35 "on normalization of relations with Kosovo" she pointed out that "no one can be precise and say it will be the last to be closed, because there is no such practice."

As Miscevic explained, "the specificity of this chapter is that it is not negotiated through accession negotiations, but takes place through dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina and is monitoring progress in this field, which is why it is even more complicated."

She saif that Serbia is ready to participate in dialogue - "but it also depends on the political situation in Pristina."

"One should not expect easy dialogues, but there should be hope for successful dialogues, as was the case in August this year. It is obvious that the situation in Pristina is different than in Belgrade and it reflects on the willingness to enter into further pace of dialogue," said Miscevic.

When it comes the appraisal about the insufficient progress on freedom of expression, which was contained in the annual report of the European Commission, Miscevic said it was "not all bad":

"It says there is no progress, then states all the things that have been done. The privatization process has been completed, a registry of media has been created, that resolves a number of issues such as financing of the media, ownership lists have been introduced, transparency of media ownership. A lot should be done, but it's not only up to the government. The government creates the institutional framework, and we all work on it."