Committee Deputy Chairperson Elvira Kovacs said that EU membership is Serbia’s strategic goal, one in which the National Assembly plays the important role of harmonizing the national legislation with the EU acquis. Kovacs said that Serbia is aware that the obligations stemming from the accession process mean amending the Constitution and concluded that the actual accession is to be preceded by at least two amendments to the Constitution and a referendum on joining the European Union. She said that the amendments mainly concern establishing full autonomy of the judiciary and regulating the rights and freedoms of national minorities, as envisioned by the Action Plan for Chapter 23, while the second amendment is expected to happen once the talks are completed, before the accession itself and it concerns the introduction of a preamble on EU accession into the Constitution.

The European Integration Committee members thanked the European Union for its support hoping that by the end of the Maltese presidency Serbia would open two additional negotiation chapters. At the same time the opposition MPs said they hoped the independence of the judiciary would soon be regulated through amendments to the Constitution.

The members of the EP delegation headed by György Schöpflin were briefed on the role the National Assembly and its working bodies play in the negotiation process and the steps Serbia is expected to take next in it.