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Joining EU best incentive for continuation of transition and reform
Belgrade,
17 December 2005
Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus said today that the Serbian government’s priority is to join the European Union and that that is the best incentive for the continuation of the process of transition and reform.
Addressing the Expert Economists Society and the Academy of Economic Science on the theme of “Economic policy in 2006” Labus said that there is no dilemma of whether Serbia-Montenegro should enter the EU or not, even if the EU has no financial interest as it did when it accepted countries of middle and eastern Europe.
He said that an indirect benefit for Serbia-Montenegro from EU membership will be market enlargement and investment growth, which will exceed $2.5 billion annually.
According to Labus, even if for Serbia-Montenegro and other countries of the West Balkans it is too late to benefit from greater financial support from the EU, it is necessary to become a member and in that manner compensate for the loss of customs revenues that Serbia-Montenegro must reduce in the process of accessing the European market.
Labus said that Serbia-Montenegro will get in negotiations “as much as it is qualified to ask for” and added that there is no alternative to entering the EU, because it is through that organisation that the bigger part of the external trade of Serbia-Montenegro is done.
He said however that perhaps there will be a dilemma concerning Serbia-Montenegro becoming a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) because of, above all, the unusual timing, according to which Serbia-Montenegro must first sign the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU, and after that it will receive the treatment of the most privileged nation in the WTO, which is technically hard to execute.
Labus said that today 80 percent of trade is being done through the EU and Russia, and for the remaining 20 percent the WTO is required, which will allow for security of investments.
He said that lessened financial help from the EU for the countries of the West Balkans for entering the EU compared to the countries of middle and eastern Europe is a consequence of the end of the “cold war” between the west and east, which finally ended with the entrance of countries of that region in the EU.
According to Labus, the key question for Serbia-Montenegro is how to create the best negotiating position in Brussels.
He said that an indirect benefit for Serbia-Montenegro from EU membership will be market enlargement and investment growth, which will exceed $2.5 billion annually.
According to Labus, even if for Serbia-Montenegro and other countries of the West Balkans it is too late to benefit from greater financial support from the EU, it is necessary to become a member and in that manner compensate for the loss of customs revenues that Serbia-Montenegro must reduce in the process of accessing the European market.
Labus said that Serbia-Montenegro will get in negotiations “as much as it is qualified to ask for” and added that there is no alternative to entering the EU, because it is through that organisation that the bigger part of the external trade of Serbia-Montenegro is done.
He said however that perhaps there will be a dilemma concerning Serbia-Montenegro becoming a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) because of, above all, the unusual timing, according to which Serbia-Montenegro must first sign the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU, and after that it will receive the treatment of the most privileged nation in the WTO, which is technically hard to execute.
Labus said that today 80 percent of trade is being done through the EU and Russia, and for the remaining 20 percent the WTO is required, which will allow for security of investments.
He said that lessened financial help from the EU for the countries of the West Balkans for entering the EU compared to the countries of middle and eastern Europe is a consequence of the end of the “cold war” between the west and east, which finally ended with the entrance of countries of that region in the EU.
According to Labus, the key question for Serbia-Montenegro is how to create the best negotiating position in Brussels.
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