Government awaiting EU draft agreement

The government expects to receive a draft of the EU’s political cooperation agreement soon. Kosovo Minister Slobodan Samardzic said that the agreement would be examined closely and analyzed, after which, Serbia would formulate a draft of its own. Government awaiting EU draft agreement The government also announced that the agreement should express the united view that all EU countries wanted Serbia to become a member of the union. Some government officials are worried about the actual name of the agreement. Samardzic said that it should be determined whether this agreement was at a lower level than the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), which Serbia has already negotiated and initialed. “It is an open case that we must carefully analyze once we receive the document. What was announced as the agreement’s contents – visa liberalization, political dialogue for economic cooperation and trade relations leading to a common market for Serbia and the EU, along with education - are all, visa liberalization aside, included within the text of the SAA, and negotiations have already been completed in a very detailed fashion,” the minister explained. Asked whether the government had a different proposal, he said that this would not be an issue until officials had seen the EU’s proposal. Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said that, according to the EU Council of Ministers, this would be the first political agreement that states that Serbia will become a member of the EU eventually and that visas will be abolished for its citizens. “This is stated for the first time in a document. The other element is the visa issue,” he said, adding that the European Commission would be given a full mandate, via the agreement, to completely abolish the visa regime for Serbia once negotiations were complete. Djelic said that the government was due to receive the political agreement by the end of the week, or on Monday at the latest. The agreement could be signed as soon as February 7. Slobodan Samardzic (FoNet, archive)

Government awaiting EU draft agreement

The government also announced that the agreement should express the united view that all EU countries wanted Serbia to become a member of the union. Some government officials are worried about the actual name of the agreement.

Samardžić said that it should be determined whether this agreement was at a lower level than the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), which Serbia has already negotiated and initialed.

“It is an open case that we must carefully analyze once we receive the document. What was announced as the agreement’s contents – visa liberalization, political dialogue for economic cooperation and trade relations leading to a common market for Serbia and the EU, along with education - are all, visa liberalization aside, included within the text of the SAA, and negotiations have already been completed in a very detailed fashion,” the minister explained.

Asked whether the government had a different proposal, he said that this would not be an issue until officials had seen the EU’s proposal.

Deputy Prime Minister Božidar Đelić said that, according to the EU Council of Ministers, this would be the first political agreement that states that Serbia will become a member of the EU eventually and that visas will be abolished for its citizens.

“This is stated for the first time in a document. The other element is the visa issue,” he said, adding that the European Commission would be given a full mandate, via the agreement, to completely abolish the visa regime for Serbia once negotiations were complete.

Đelić said that the government was due to receive the political agreement by the end of the week, or on Monday at the latest. The agreement could be signed as soon as February 7.