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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Government officials continue campaign to educate public on EU accession

Belgrade, 6 September 2005

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus announced today a new round of the “Europe Knocks on Your Door” campaign, in which Serbian government and EU representatives will visit seven more cities across Serbia where they will speak with citizens and inform them about Serbia-Montenegro’s EU association process.

Speaking at a press conference, Labus said that visits to Kikinda, Novi Pazar, Pirot, Loznica, Paracin, Nis, and Sombor will be organised as part of this new round of campaigns, and recalled that, since March, Serbian government and EU representatives have visited eight cities over the course of this project of public education.

The Serbian Deputy Minister pointed out that Serbia is fully prepared for negotiations on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU (SAA), meaning that their final negotiating positions have been adopted and that they will be presented at a meeting of the European Integration Council in two days.

Labus explained that these negotiating positions cover 11 areas, starting with the preamble, which is the field concerning overall cooperating principles with the EU, the means of political dialogue between the EU and Serbia-Montenegro, as well as regional cooperation and a free trade regime. The negotiations will then extend to free labour movement and the right to establish an economic society, free movement of capital, the harmonisation of laws, and reform of the judicial system and police. The last part of negotiations deals specifically with the bodies that need to be formed together with the EU, which in the course of events follows the realisation of the SAA and precedes the next stages of the accession process.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that the negotiations will start in about a month and expressed hope that the Montenegrin side will prepare for them in this period.

He said that European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn will visit Serbia-Montenegro on October 10 and October 11, and he expressed hope that the EU Council of Ministers will pass a decision on the beginning of negotiations.

Labus went on to say that previous beliefs on access to EU accession funds may have been too conservative and that if these funds could be made available, the accession process would be much easier.

According to him, in an agreement that has been held independent from the beginning of negotiations on the SAA, European Commission representatives and Serbia-Montenegrin negotiators have agreed to meet from October 12-14 in the 10th meeting of the Enhanced Permanent Dialogue, at which direct talks on statistics and power supply will be conducted.

The British Ambassador to Serbia-Montenegro David Gowan said that the British Embassy will continue to play an important role in the “Europe Knocks on Your Door” campaign, and added that the message at the European Council meeting, set for June 2006, will once again be that the future of the Western Balkans is in the EU.

Gowan said that in the case of Serbia-Montenegro, the start of negotiations will not only depend on fulfilment of criteria set forth at the 1993 Copenhagen summit, but also on cooperation with the tribunal in The Hague. He voiced hope that this process could start by the end of the year, while Great Britain holds the EU’s rotating presidency.

According to him, Great Britain is assisting Serbia-Montenegro in every possible way in order to fulfil the criteria needed to start talks. He recalled that assistance programmes to Serbia are already in place, with a bilateral package worth €4.5 million and EU assistance amounting to €26 million being carried out through the European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR). Gowan stressed that he strongly supports Deputy Prime Minister Labus and the Serbian government in their efforts to educate the public on and mobilise support for accession to the European Union.

Secretary of the EU Integration Office Tanja Miscevic said that the integration process consists of several phases and that Serbia is currently is entering the first phase, specifically the start of negotiations on the conclusion of the SAA.

She stressed that for Serbia, the EU is not just an end goal, but also a means for the achievement of a modern democratic state.

Miscevic said that Serbia-Montenegro's negotiating team identified 2012 as the year in which this country will be prepared to become a full member of the EU.

According to Miscevic, one of the aims of the "Europe Knocks on Your Door" campaign is to make every citizen aware that his or her role in the integration process is crucial for its success.

She announced that the EU Integration Office will continue to work with civil sector and non-governmental organisations (NGO), noting that memorandums of cooperation with local NGOs will be signed at each stop on this current campaign.

Also attending the press conference was Josep Lloveras, who heads the European Commission’s delegation to Serbia-Montenegro. He pointed out that it is necessary for citizens to have a comprehensive explanation of what EU integration means. This includes education not only on the mechanisms for accession, but also on the obligations, advantages, and costs of the project, Lloveras said, adding that terms that are being used currently, such as Feasibility Study and Stabilisation and Association Agreement, still might not be clear to the average citizen.