"Serbia to get EU date in October"

BELGRADE EU leaders will at the end of June order the European Commission to develop a platform for Serbia's accession, the daily Vecernje Novosti writes on Wednesday. A date for the formal launch of negotiations should be determined in October, according to this. "Serbia to get EU date in October" By then, a new report by EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule on Serbia's progress should be complete, the newspaper said. The article added that leaders of EU member states are "closest to this scenario." The decision of the Council on June 28 will also likely to contain a clause that the date of the official start of negotiations can be postponed, if it was estimated that the implementation of the agreement between Belgrade and Pristina was not going at an expected pace. In this way different positions within the EU would be reconciled, Serbia would be recognized for the enormous progress in the normalization of relations with the Kosovo Albanians, but Germany would also be satisfied, a state that has the toughest and decisive stance when it comes to Serbia's EU integration, writes the newspaper. According to the article, the faction of the ruling German coalition CDU-CSU led by Andreas Schockenhoff is willing to accept the recommendation of their government to grant Serbia the start of negotiations, but will insist that Chancellor Angela Merkel at the European Council conditions the exact date with the implementations of the Brussels agreement. Serbian state leaders, meanwhile, expect that the position of the European Council in June to be "clear and unambiguous." Prime Minister Ivica Dacic has said that he does not expect "conditional dates", while one of his deputies, Suzana Grubjesic told the daily that "a positive approach, without additional conditioning, was necessary". Director of the Government Office for EU Integration Milan Pajevic has confirmed that the European Council will most likely instead of an exact date order the Commission to take the necessary steps to start negotiations. "In fact, a date and the green light to start technical preparations for negotiations are the same thing. In the case of a positive scenario, the Commission would determine the exact guidance and begin the so-called screening of our compliance with European regulations," says Pajevic. EU's representative in Belgrade Vincent Deger has been quoted as saying that accession talks cannot begin a day after the positive decision of the European Council, but that the negotiating framework must be prepared and key elements and conditions identified - "which certainly takes a couple months." Vecernje novosti

"Serbia to get EU date in October"

By then, a new report by EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule on Serbia's progress should be complete, the newspaper said.

The article added that leaders of EU member states are "closest to this scenario."

The decision of the Council on June 28 will also likely to contain a clause that the date of the official start of negotiations can be postponed, if it was estimated that the implementation of the agreement between Belgrade and Priština was not going at an expected pace.

In this way different positions within the EU would be reconciled, Serbia would be recognized for the enormous progress in the normalization of relations with the Kosovo Albanians, but Germany would also be satisfied, a state that has the toughest and decisive stance when it comes to Serbia's EU integration, writes the newspaper.

According to the article, the faction of the ruling German coalition CDU-CSU led by Andreas Schockenhoff is willing to accept the recommendation of their government to grant Serbia the start of negotiations, but will insist that Chancellor Angela Merkel at the European Council conditions the exact date with the implementations of the Brussels agreement.

Serbian state leaders, meanwhile, expect that the position of the European Council in June to be "clear and unambiguous." Prime Minister Ivica Dačić has said that he does not expect "conditional dates", while one of his deputies, Suzana Grubješić told the daily that "a positive approach, without additional conditioning, was necessary".

Director of the Government Office for EU Integration Milan Pajević has confirmed that the European Council will most likely instead of an exact date order the Commission to take the necessary steps to start negotiations.

"In fact, a date and the green light to start technical preparations for negotiations are the same thing. In the case of a positive scenario, the Commission would determine the exact guidance and begin the so-called screening of our compliance with European regulations," says Pajević.

EU's representative in Belgrade Vincent Deger has been quoted as saying that accession talks cannot begin a day after the positive decision of the European Council, but that the negotiating framework must be prepared and key elements and conditions identified - "which certainly takes a couple months."