The head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade, Stefano Valenti, attended the sitting of the European Integrations Committee to present to the deputies the tenth report on compliance with obligations and commitments and implementation of the post-accession co-operation programme, covering the period from October 2005 to January 2006.

The report states that Serbia and Montenegro had almost completely met its obligations relating to signing and ratifying European conventions and adopting specific legislation. Mr Valenti expressed his pleasure at the fact that the Assembly had passed a large number of laws over a short period of time, but that implementation of the laws lagged behind.

According to the Council of Europe assessment, the future status of Kosovo and the uncertain future of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro were affecting the political situation, functioning of institutions, and reform processes. The report goes on to say that an appropriate approach to solving issues of relations with Montenegro, and a constructive contribution to solving the Kosovo issue, were priority obligations requiring a great deal of attention over the coming months.

As far as the uncertain future of the State Union was concerned, the failure of both member states to implement constitutional reforms remained one of the primary problems, with consequences for key areas such as independence of the judiciary, decentralisation and creation of democratic institutions. Reform and reorganisation of the judiciary is still a priority for both member states; wide-ranging reforms are bearing first fruit in combating organised crime, but, although structures to tackle organised crime have been set up, they are still not yielding results, the report says.

The Council of Europe report singles out full co-operation with the Hague Tribunal as a priority.

The chairperson of the European Integrations Committee, Ksenija Milivojevic, asked how a possible pro-independence outcome of the Montenegrin referendum would affect Council of Europe membership, and whether independence would entail any additional procedures. Mr Valenti answered that many questions would be raised by the referendum, and that any newly-independent countries will have to reapply for membership in international organisations, but could not say with certainty whether this process would take a day or a year. He added that the state of the existing State Union had to be revised, regardless of referendum results, as the State Union was the international institutions’ main partner.