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Substantial progress made in second round of talks with EU
Belgrade,
24 February 2006
Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and head of the Serbian negotiating team for talks with the EU Miroljub Labus said today that substantial progress has been made in the second round of technical negotiations on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU.
Author:
FoNet
Labus told reporters that it is necessary to hold one more meeting in order to complete the entire work. He said that EU representatives proposed shortening the transitional period for the liberalisation of trade in industrial and agricultural products from six years, as proposed by the Serbian negotiating team, to five.
According to Labus, the Serbian team proposed that tariffs on industrial products in the trade with the EU be completely eliminated after six years, while a certain level of protection would remain for 20% of agricultural products.
He said that the EU's proposal was a positive surprise because it demonstrates Brussels' conviction that Serbia is capable of achieving the necessary level of competitiveness in a shorter period of time, adding that the proposal of the Serbian team is "utterly realistic."
Labus said that according to the Serbian government’s agenda the agreement should be signed in the second half of this year, while its implementation would begin in 2007 to last six years, so that by the end of 2012 Serbia could be ready for EU membership.
The Serbian Deputy Prime Minister said that representatives of the EU made an objection that the Serbian team has not offered balanced trade liberalisation, but that process will be slow at the beginning and accelerated towards the end. He pointed out that the economy needs a certain period of time for adjustment after which liberalisation can be speeded up.
According to Labus, all forms of protection for agricultural products were presented in tariff equivalents and it has been shown that for certain products the protection is too high, amounting to some 80 or 90% of their value, so by the end of the adjustment period it will be reduced to 20% to 30%.
Labus said that other themes of the negotiations were the freedom of founding companies, free movement of goods, services and capital, as well as the harmonisation of legislation and rules of competition, state help, protection of intellectual property rights and cooperation policy.
He reiterated that as of 2007 a new form of pre-accession aid to countries wishing to enter the EU will be introduced and that the amount of funds allocated to a specific country will depend on its possibilities to use them.
According to Labus, the Serbian team proposed that tariffs on industrial products in the trade with the EU be completely eliminated after six years, while a certain level of protection would remain for 20% of agricultural products.
He said that the EU's proposal was a positive surprise because it demonstrates Brussels' conviction that Serbia is capable of achieving the necessary level of competitiveness in a shorter period of time, adding that the proposal of the Serbian team is "utterly realistic."
Labus said that according to the Serbian government’s agenda the agreement should be signed in the second half of this year, while its implementation would begin in 2007 to last six years, so that by the end of 2012 Serbia could be ready for EU membership.
The Serbian Deputy Prime Minister said that representatives of the EU made an objection that the Serbian team has not offered balanced trade liberalisation, but that process will be slow at the beginning and accelerated towards the end. He pointed out that the economy needs a certain period of time for adjustment after which liberalisation can be speeded up.
According to Labus, all forms of protection for agricultural products were presented in tariff equivalents and it has been shown that for certain products the protection is too high, amounting to some 80 or 90% of their value, so by the end of the adjustment period it will be reduced to 20% to 30%.
Labus said that other themes of the negotiations were the freedom of founding companies, free movement of goods, services and capital, as well as the harmonisation of legislation and rules of competition, state help, protection of intellectual property rights and cooperation policy.
He reiterated that as of 2007 a new form of pre-accession aid to countries wishing to enter the EU will be introduced and that the amount of funds allocated to a specific country will depend on its possibilities to use them.
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