New conditions are "myth", EU rep says

BELGRADE Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Vincent Degert says that allegations that Brussels is changing the existing conditions for the EU accession are a “myth”. Degert noted that Serbia was “facing the last step” ahead of the start of the EU accession negotiations. New conditions are "myth", EU rep says “This is not true, the truth is that the EU is changing and that we need to adjust,” he stressed at a conference dubbed “How to start negotiations with the EU” in Belgrade on Wednesday. According to Degert, Serbia is at a turning point and the EU expects it to harmonize its laws with the EU’s, to have administrative capacity to implement the laws and fulfill all criteria before it joins the EU. He pointed out that the EU accession negotiations were not a matter of lobbying but technical work and harmonization with European legislation. “You cannot go to Brussels and say ‘I want this or that’,” Degert explained. The head of the EU Delegation to Serbia advised the Serbian government not to postpone the most difficult structural reforms for the last phase of the negotiations because it was a “recipe for problems”. Degert underscored that Serbia was yet to start reforms in the area of competition and state aid. He said that as many factors as possible should be included in the negotiating process and added that Montenegro, for example, had civil sector representatives in its negotiating team. According to Degert, allegations that Brussels is changing conditions and setting new ones in order to make the accession more difficult for candidates are nothing but a myth. He said he hoped that a process of the ratification of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) between Serbia and the EU would be completed by July 1. The head of the EU Delegation said that the SAA would come into effect this summer, as soon as it was ratified by Lithuania’s parliament. The conference was opened by Serbian PM Ivica Dacic and Serbian government’s EU Integration Office Director Milan Pajevic and parliamentary Committee on EU Integration President Milica Delevic will address the participants. Representatives of Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia and Slovakia are attending the conference and they will speak about their countries’experience in the process of the EU accession negotiations. Vincent Degert (Beta, file) Tanjug

New conditions are "myth", EU rep says

“This is not true, the truth is that the EU is changing and that we need to adjust,” he stressed at a conference dubbed “How to start negotiations with the EU” in Belgrade on Wednesday.

According to Degert, Serbia is at a turning point and the EU expects it to harmonize its laws with the EU’s, to have administrative capacity to implement the laws and fulfill all criteria before it joins the EU.

He pointed out that the EU accession negotiations were not a matter of lobbying but technical work and harmonization with European legislation.

“You cannot go to Brussels and say ‘I want this or that’,” Degert explained.

The head of the EU Delegation to Serbia advised the Serbian government not to postpone the most difficult structural reforms for the last phase of the negotiations because it was a “recipe for problems”.

Degert underscored that Serbia was yet to start reforms in the area of competition and state aid.

He said that as many factors as possible should be included in the negotiating process and added that Montenegro, for example, had civil sector representatives in its negotiating team.

According to Degert, allegations that Brussels is changing conditions and setting new ones in order to make the accession more difficult for candidates are nothing but a myth.

He said he hoped that a process of the ratification of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) between Serbia and the EU would be completed by July 1.

The head of the EU Delegation said that the SAA would come into effect this summer, as soon as it was ratified by Lithuania’s parliament.

The conference was opened by Serbian PM Ivica Dačić and Serbian government’s EU Integration Office Director Milan Pajević and parliamentary Committee on EU Integration President Milica Delević will address the participants.

Representatives of Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia and Slovakia are attending the conference and they will speak about their countries’experience in the process of the EU accession negotiations.