BELGRADE -- Implementation of the Serbia-EU Interim Trade Agreement begins in Serbia today, following the entry into force of changes to the Law on Customs Tariffs.
BELGRADE -- Implementation of the Serbia-EU Interim Trade Agreement begins in Serbia today, following the entry into force of changes to the Law on Customs Tariffs.
Source: B92
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The implementation of the Interim Trade Agreement calls for a gradual reduction, and then full abolishment of customs charges on the import of goods from the EU. Under the agreement, customs taxes in the first year will be five to 20 percent lower than the current level, with customs on raw materials and repro-materials 70 percent down compared to 2008.
One of the key benefits, according to government officials, will be customs on cars, which will be slashed by half. Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković reiterated that the ultimate effect would be cheaper prices for European products.
“In accordance with the agreement that foresees a successive decrease in customs on imported products from the European Union, the first raft of reductions will be applied to various products, and there is an entire list of these products,” Cvetković said.
“In the end, it will lead to people and businesses spending less, and certain products will be cheaper—that’s to say, production input from the European Union will be less expensive,” he explained.
This year, customs on certain agricultural products produced outside Serbia will be scrapped, though customs on other products will remain until after 2015. Customs on industrial products will be completely abolished after six years.
The implementation of the agreement will mean lower customs revenue, which the government will offset by increasing excise taxes.
The excise increase will mean higher prices for fuel, starting from today.
Cigarette prices have also risen by two dinars and are expected to rise a further two percent.
Beer and coffee prices will rise by one dinar per liter and 10 percent respectively.
Some economists, however, believe that the budget projections are unrealistic and optimistic, and that the 2009 budget is unfeasible.
“It’s highly unlikely that the 2009 budget will be able to be implemented, as it was defined. In both the income and spending sense, there is very little room for maneuver. Unfortunately, taxes and contributions cannot be cut any more, which is what businesses are most interested in,” economist Jurij Bajec states.
“At the same time, not much can be done, unfortunately, when it comes to increasing public spending in real terms, because it is how it is, and it has already been cut as much as it could have been,” he adds.
Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović said that the government had not made any new calculations regarding budget losses that would result from the implementation of the trade agreement, and that recent trends indicate that imports are slowing.
Hi.
I was unsure whether to classify this remark as suggestion or opinion. Regarding your poll, I think it is very likely that recognition of Kosovo will be put forward as a condition. If Serbia accepts this condition and recognises Kosovo for integration then it will never be clear how many other countries would, over time, have supported membership without recognition. Therefore it will never be clear whether or not it was a truly essential condition that could have been circumvented, and you will never know the true answer to the question regarding whether it would have remained an essential condition rather than a suggested/requested condition. Consequently, in effect whether it turns out to be a condition could be thought of as the choice of your leaders to allow it to be a condition at any given time. That is, unless the resolve of the EU is known with absolute certainty, it is only a suggested condition until accepted at which point it takes on the appearance of having been an essential condition. Perhaps an alternative phrasing for your poll question could be "To achieve integration, will Serbia give in and recognise Kosovo? If so how soon? In future years will it prove to have been unnecessary or a mistake?"
Other suggestions for questions: "If Serbia recognises Kosovo, will the EU speed up integration or will it find another condition then another then another etc.?"
"Are the benefits of EU integration greater than the costs?"
"Are the people of Serbia aware of the costs of membership?
e.g. Very rigid restrictive laws regarding farm practices, government aid within your own country, freedom for businesses from other countries to come in and compete, perhaps with more expertise and ruthlessness, possible loss of your car industry (as in UK), huge exodus/migration of many of your educated talented young/middle aged people to clean toilets etc. but earn more money, rather than stay and help the growth of Serbia.
"In a future Serbia which has recognised Kosovo, joined the EU and perhaps prospered, how will people feel if then Kosovo joins and under the rules of the EU, Albanians are again move north and are allowed to enter Serbia, claim benefits etc.?"
(Meirion UK, 30 January 2009 23:51)
Hi.
I was unsure whether to classify this remark as suggestion or opinion. Regarding your poll, I think it is very likely that recognition of Kosovo will be put forward as a condition. If Serbia accepts this condition and recognises Kosovo for integration then it will never be clear how many other countries would, over time, have supported membership without recognition. Therefore it will never be clear whether or not it was a truly essential condition that could have been circumvented, and you will never know the true answer to the question regarding whether it would have remained an essential condition rather than a suggested/requested condition. Consequently, in effect whether it turns out to be a condition could be thought of as the choice of your leaders to allow it to be a condition at any given time. That is, unless the resolve of the EU is known with absolute certainty, it is only a suggested condition until accepted at which point it takes on the appearance of having been an essential condition. Perhaps an alternative phrasing for your poll question could be "To achieve integration, will Serbia give in and recognise Kosovo? If so how soon? In future years will it prove to have been unnecessary or a mistake?"
Other suggestions for questions: "If Serbia recognises Kosovo, will the EU speed up integration or will it find another condition then another then another etc.?"
"Are the benefits of EU integration greater than the costs?"
"Are the people of Serbia aware of the costs of membership?
e.g. Very rigid restrictive laws regarding farm practices, government aid within your own country, freedom for businesses from other countries to come in and compete, perhaps with more expertise and ruthlessness, possible loss of your car industry (as in UK), huge exodus/migration of many of your educated talented young/middle aged people to clean toilets etc. but earn more money, rather than stay and help the growth of Serbia.
"In a future Serbia which has recognised Kosovo, joined the EU and perhaps prospered, how will people feel if then Kosovo joins and under the rules of the EU, Albanians are again move north and are allowed to enter Serbia, claim benefits etc.?"
(Meirion UK, 30 January 2009 23:51)
Hi.
I was unsure whether to classify this remark as suggestion or opinion. Regarding your poll, I think it is very likely that recognition of Kosovo will be put forward as a condition. If Serbia accepts this condition and recognises Kosovo for integration then it will never be clear how many other countries would, over time, have supported membership without recognition. Therefore it will never be clear whether or not it was a truly essential condition that could have been circumvented, and you will never know the true answer to the question regarding whether it would have remained an essential condition rather than a suggested/requested condition. Consequently, in effect whether it turns out to be a condition could be thought of as the choice of your leaders to allow it to be a condition at any given time. That is, unless the resolve of the EU is known with absolute certainty, it is only a suggested condition until accepted at which point it takes on the appearance of having been an essential condition. Perhaps an alternative phrasing for your poll question could be "To achieve integration, will Serbia give in and recognise Kosovo? If so how soon? In future years will it prove to have been unnecessary or a mistake?"
Other suggestions for questions: "If Serbia recognises Kosovo, will the EU speed up integration or will it find another condition then another then another etc.?"
"Are the benefits of EU integration greater than the costs?"
"Are the people of Serbia aware of the costs of membership?
e.g. Very rigid restrictive laws regarding farm practices, government aid within your own country, freedom for businesses from other countries to come in and compete, perhaps with more expertise and ruthlessness, possible loss of your car industry (as in UK), huge exodus/migration of many of your educated talented young/middle aged people to clean toilets etc. but earn more money, rather than stay and help the growth of Serbia.
"In a future Serbia which has recognised Kosovo, joined the EU and perhaps prospered, how will people feel if then Kosovo joins and under the rules of the EU, Albanians are again move north and are allowed to enter Serbia, claim benefits etc.?"
(Meirion UK, 30 January 2009 23:51)