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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Delays in approaching the EU can be made up for

Belgrade, 23 June 2005

Serbian Assistant Minister of International Economic Relations Dusko Lopandic said for today's edition of Vecernje Novosti that delays that have been made so far in the EU accession process can be made up for by submitting a formal request for EU membership after the conclusion of the stabilisation and association agreement, which Slovenia did in 1996 and thus obtained the right to direct negotiations on the membership.

Dusko Lopandic

Lopandic said that it is obvious that Serbia-Montenegro lags behind in the institutional approaching to the EU and explained that that is largely a consequence of internal disputes as to whether the two republics should join the EU together or separately.

According to Lopandic, it would be desirable that Serbia-Montenegro submit the request for EU membership in 2006 so that negotiations could be completed by 2010.

Lopandic said that legal provisions and criteria relating to the EU accession have not been changed with the new EU Constitution and that the only novelty concerns the procedure of possible exclusion from the EU membership.

However, he pointed out that with each expansion of the EU, the task of future candidates is becoming more and more complex even though the formal accession criteria have not been changed.

Lopandic explained that the volume of EU legislation is getting larger and the Union’s structure and way of functioning increasingly complex.