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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Delegation of Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Society ends visit to Brussels

Belgrade, 15 December 2007

A delegation of the Serbian Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Society led by Minister Aleksandra Smiljanic was in Brussels from December 10 to 13, where the Serbian officials visited the European Commission.

The delegation met with European Commissioner for Information Society and Media Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Science Janez Potocnik and European Commission Director General for Information Society and Media Fabio Colasanti.

During the three meetings, the officials exchanged opinions on most current issues in telecommunications and information society. Smiljanic presented European Commission officials with the work of the newly formed Serbian Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Society and the situation in this area in terms of regulation, building and promotion of institutional capacities as well as efforts to harmonise the current condition in this area with EU standards.

Reding and Colasanti pointed out to the importance of cooperation of Serbia and the EU in these areas and offered necessary support in harmonisation with EU standards.

They stressed that the process of harmonisation with the current regulatory framework of the EU 2002 should be systematic, step by step, so as to provide full implementation of all necessary regulatory measures allowing the development of competition and liberalisation of telecommunication market in Serbia based on principles of transparency and non-discriminatory approach.

The talks also focused on participation of Serbia in EU’s Framework Programme 7 (FP7) and Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP).

Serbia became joined member of FP7 in mid-2007 and has equal status in its projects.

Reding stressed that participation of small and medium-sized enterprises should be stimulated in programmes such as FP7 and CIP. A memorandum on understanding due to be signed soon will allow equal participation in CIP for Serbia.

The Serbian delegation also visited the Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications and was presented with the results of their work.

They also visited the Belgian Federal Public Service of Information and Communication, which is in charge of developing е-government. It was concluded that Serbian and Belgian approaches in the introduction of e-government are similar. The Belgian institution offered cooperation which should start in the first quarter of 2008.

The European Commission officials will visit Belgrade and present the Serbian expert public with programmes in the area of information and telecommunications technologies. Through these projects, Serbian companies and universities will be able to establish cooperation with European companies and universities and to get financial support from the EU for development and research work, Smiljanic pointed out.