EU Integrations Committee meets

Deputy PM Bozidar Djelic says it is very important to implement the action plan for reaching EU candidate status by the end of June. This in order to ensure a positive opinion from the European Commission (EC), he told the Serbian parliament's European Integration Committee today in Belgrade. EU Integrations Committee meets Djelic said it is necessary that everyone get involved, so that the EC will recommend that Serbia be granted candidate status and, what is even more difficult and less certain, get a starting date for accession talks. Djelic said that the first EC expert mission, which will look into security issues, will arrive in Belgrade on Monday. Security, as well as the judiciary and human rights, will dominate the talks with the EU in the coming months, Djelic said. The deputy prime minister in charge of European integration also said that the trade segment of the Stabilization and Association Agreement Committee will meet in Brussels on March 22 and 23, and noted that the implementation of the SAA is an important element in the preparation of Serbia's candidacy. Djelic presented the October-December 2010 report on the implementation of the National Program for EU Integration, which aims to achieve full harmonization with EU regulations. He said the program was 81 percent complete. According to him, 74 percent of the plan were completed from its adoption in July 2008 to December 2010. Serbia is on the course to finish the job by July this year, he noted. Current priorities regarding EU integration are the completion of the judicial reform and tackling a number of property rights issues, including restitution and a law on public property, which would transfer some of that property to local governments. Other issues include ending the practice of the so called blank resignations for parliament members, which allow parties to have complete control over their members' mandates in the parliament. Then there are also the issues of party funding and and the election law, which is needed to be able to tell the order in which a party's candidates will enter the parliament.

EU Integrations Committee meets

Đelić said it is necessary that everyone get involved, so that the EC will recommend that Serbia be granted candidate status and, what is even more difficult and less certain, get a starting date for accession talks.

Đelić said that the first EC expert mission, which will look into security issues, will arrive in Belgrade on Monday.

Security, as well as the judiciary and human rights, will dominate the talks with the EU in the coming months, Đelić said.

The deputy prime minister in charge of European integration also said that the trade segment of the Stabilization and Association Agreement Committee will meet in Brussels on March 22 and 23, and noted that the implementation of the SAA is an important element in the preparation of Serbia's candidacy.

Đelić presented the October-December 2010 report on the implementation of the National Program for EU Integration, which aims to achieve full harmonization with EU regulations. He said the program was 81 percent complete.

According to him, 74 percent of the plan were completed from its adoption in July 2008 to December 2010. Serbia is on the course to finish the job by July this year, he noted.

Current priorities regarding EU integration are the completion of the judicial reform and tackling a number of property rights issues, including restitution and a law on public property, which would transfer some of that property to local governments.

Other issues include ending the practice of the so called blank resignations for parliament members, which allow parties to have complete control over their members' mandates in the parliament. Then there are also the issues of party funding and and the election law, which is needed to be able to tell the order in which a party's candidates will enter the parliament.