Fule stressed that, having gained European Union candidate status in March this year, Serbia is expected to continue to meet the political requirements and criteria delineated in the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. The priorities in the upcoming period should be strengthening the rule of law and expediting judiciary reform, fighting corruption and crime, strengthening regional cooperation and relations with neighbouring countries. In addition, attention should be focused on strengthening the independence of state institutions, such as the central bank, strengthening the rights of vulnerable groups and harmonising national and EU legislation.
Fule stressed that it is important to make additional progress toward a visible and sustainable improvement of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, which means implementing all the agreements signed so far and Serbia’s constructive participation in addressing the open issues.
Fule said that Serbia is an important country in the region to which EU committed itself by granting it candidacy status and which the EU will continue to assist in the completion of the tasks before it. He pointed out the important role the Parliament plays in passing laws from the European agenda and in the continuation and speeding up of reform, emphasising that a lot of work still remains to be done in order to set the date for the commencement of negotiations between Serbia and the EU next year.
Suzana Grubjesic, Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, stressed that the Government, based on the Report on the implementation of reform in the past year, would draft an action plan for the next nine months which would contain a plan of duties for each field listed in the European Commission’s Report.
The Committee members had numerous questions for the EU Enlargement Commissioner, among them, why the Report mentioned the territorial integrity of Kosovo. Fule responded that the Report on Serbia did not bring into question the European Union’s neutral status regarding Kosovo, it merely stressed that the EU did not wish it divided.
There were also opinions that the Report is negative for Serbia and that the same assessments of the situation and measures that need to be implemented keep repeating year after year, and the governments were blamed for the slow reforms and lack of systemic reform.
The sitting was attended by Milan Pajevic, Director of the EU Integration Office and Vincent Degert, Head of the EU Office in Serbia.
The sitting was chaired by the Committee Chairperson, Milica Delevic.