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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Process of European integration to be considered process of internal reform in Serbia

Belgrade, 23 March 2007

Director of the Serbian government’s EU Integration Office Tanja Miscevic said today that Serbia should not wait for the moment when it will become a member of the “European family”, but dedicate itself to the process of internal reform and make efforts to reach European standards.

Tanja Miscevic

Author: Fonet

Speaking at the round table “EU – five decades later”, Miscevic said that European values are not considered in Serbia as Serbian and something which should be adopted not because of the EU, but for Serbia’s sake, to make life better.

She stressed that the success of the process of integration should be considered through the process of internal reform, which implies bringing Europe into Serbia. She added that this is the essence of the entire process but the larger part of Serbian citizens and political elite do not look upon the matter in this manner.

According to Miscevic, it is not good that in Serbia the EU is considered “a place for a better life which we want to enter so that we could live better”, just as it is not good to have an erroneous conception of the EU policy of setting conditions for Serbia.

Miscevic explained that every organisation has its set of conditions which have to be fulfilled in order to become a “member of the club”.

The problem with the EU is that the interconnectedness of member states is so strong that these conditions are very many and concern every part of political and social life, explained Miscevic. She added that further expansion of the EU also implies a larger number of demands which potential candidates must fulfill.

Head of the European Commission Delegation to Serbia Josep Lloveras stressed that even after 50 years of existence the basic values of the European community are still freedom, democracy, rule of law, promotion of human rights and protection of minorities.

Lloveras stressed that it is the duty of all parts of society in Serbia to explain these values to citizens, and added that Serbia has a clear political European perspective and should not be concerned over the issue of gaining EU membership.

The roundtable “EU – five decades later” was held in the organisation of the Serbian government’s EU Integration Office on the occasion of the 50th year since the signing of the Treaties of Rome which established the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community.