EU experts to make “Schengen visit” in February

The first EU expert mission tasked with making a detailed analysis of Serbia’s progress in reaching the Schengen visa white list will visit in early February. Daily Danas writes that the European Commission will review the results achieved in implementing public order and security, after which a team of European experts will make a series of visits to Serbia in February and March in order to analyse areas related to the scrapping of the visa regime for Serbian citizens. EU experts to make “Schengen visit” in February A source close to the government told the daily that Serbia would be sending a government working group for visa regime liberalization to Brussels to talk with EC officials about the planned visits by EU experts. Belgrade officials state that they are ready for the visit and that they have enough to offer for that report to be positive at the end of the visit. Given the list of laws, strategies and international conventions that are still to be adopted, and the fact that there are not even any drafts for certain strategies, it is hard to imagine what Serbia will have to show to the EU team. According to the list of conditions on the Road Map to visa relaxation, parliament must adopt three more laws—on money laundering and financial crime, on outlawing discrimination, and a law on international legal aid. None of these laws has yet reached parliament, and the draft laws are still incomplete. Even though the government has adopted a new anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism strategy, the old law from 2005 is still in force. The other two laws are still being drafted. In order to get on the Schengen white list, new institutions must be up and running, including the Anti-Corruption Agency and the Directorate for Seized Asset Management, while the trustee for information of public importance needs to have assumed jurisdiction for data protection.

EU experts to make “Schengen visit” in February

A source close to the government told the daily that Serbia would be sending a government working group for visa regime liberalization to Brussels to talk with EC officials about the planned visits by EU experts.

Belgrade officials state that they are ready for the visit and that they have enough to offer for that report to be positive at the end of the visit.

Given the list of laws, strategies and international conventions that are still to be adopted, and the fact that there are not even any drafts for certain strategies, it is hard to imagine what Serbia will have to show to the EU team.

According to the list of conditions on the Road Map to visa relaxation, parliament must adopt three more laws—on money laundering and financial crime, on outlawing discrimination, and a law on international legal aid.

None of these laws has yet reached parliament, and the draft laws are still incomplete.

Even though the government has adopted a new anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism strategy, the old law from 2005 is still in force.

The other two laws are still being drafted.

In order to get on the Schengen white list, new institutions must be up and running, including the Anti-Corruption Agency and the Directorate for Seized Asset Management, while the trustee for information of public importance needs to have assumed jurisdiction for data protection.