European Integrations Committee Chairman Laszlo Varga and Committee members Gordana Comic, Natasa Vuckovic and Ivan Andric, met today at the National Assembly House with the European Parliament Rapporteur for Serbia Jelko Kacin.

Varga informed Rapporteur Kacin that the answers to the questions in the European Commission’s Questionnaire relating to the National Assembly are in their final phase. The European Integrations Committee will examine the proposed answers prepared by the National Assembly Service and, following the evaluation, they will be forwarded to the European Integration Office, as the coordinator of the effort.

He also said that the Committee is interested to further develop and improve the cooperation between the National Assembly and European Parliament, as well as increase the inclusion of the other assembly committees in the cooperation with the EP. Varga also spoke of other types of cooperation between the two parliaments, via topical meetings where they might share views on certain laws, which would contribute to strengthen mutual cooperation and coordination. In the meeting, the Serbian delegation members added that this year, the National Assembly was afforded the possibility to have its own budget for the first time.

Rapporteur Kacin said that that the European Parliament would ratify the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Union and Serbia on 19 January 2011, and vote on the Proposal of the Resolution on Serbia’s European integration. Kacin said that he would urge all the parliaments of EU member states which have not yet ratified the SAA, to do so as soon as possible.

Kacin emphasised the importance of the National Assembly’s role in the upcoming stages of Serbia’s EU accession, estimating that the strengthening of its international activities and a more pronounced presence of Serbia’s highest dignitaries in EU institutions are essential. This particularly relates to the states that are to chair the European Union in the upcoming period.