The Deputy Chairperson of the European Integration Committee Elvira Kovacs recalled the recent session of the of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia - National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska Cooperation Commission, held on 28 February, a testament of the good relations between the two parliaments and a huge step forward in the development of parliamentary cooperation, where the members of different committees spoke with their counterparts from the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska.

“Thanks to the Protocol of Cooperation between the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska and the Protocol of Cooperation between the European Integration Committee of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and the Committee on European Integration and Regional Cooperation of the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska signed on 6 October 2014, today we have the opportunity to exchange experiences concerning legislative harmonization with the EU acquis and use of EU funds”, said Kovacs.

Igor Crnadak, Chairman of the Committee on European Integration and Regional Cooperation of the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska, said that the visit comes in the wake of last week’s session of the Cooperation Commission and as such is an excellent opportunity for the two committees to exchange experiences. He emphasized the importance of close cooperation between the two committees and the need to intensify it, and invited the colleagues from the Republic of Serbia to visit the Republic of Srpska as soon as the National Assembly is constituted after the coming elections.

Crnadak highlighted the importance of the experience the Republic of Serbia and its European Integration Committee have gained through the European integration process, which can be very useful for the Committee he is heading. As a common theme, the Committee Chairman spoke about strengthening the parliament’s control role and keeping the public informed about the process as a form of outreach. The members of the Republic of Srpska delegation also wanted to know about the general cross section of what has been achieved during the current mandate and what are the Committee’s next steps as regards the European integration process.

Kovacs said that EU accession is Serbia’s strategic goal and the Committee’s chief role is to assess the level of harmonization of the national legislation with the EU acquis and play a control role in Serbia’s EU accession negotiation process. The Committee also has many activities at the level of parliamentary diplomacy and regular meetings with parliamentarians from the EU member states and the region. She also emphasized the importance of the National Convention on the European Union as the forum of more than 700 NGOs in the negotiation process.

The representatives of the two committees noted that the European Union itself has undergone major change in the last four years which reflects on the Western Balkans.

The meeting was also attended by European Integration Committee members Dusica Stojkovic, Zvonimir Djokic, Dubravka Filipovski, Aleksandar Seselj and Gordana Comic, who gave their full support to Bosnia and Herzegovina to gain the status of EU candidate state.