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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Third EC expert mission in Serbia, 14–18 March

Belgrade, 14 March 2011

The EU Integration Office stated that the third expert mission of the European Commission (EC), which will additionally analyse responses to the EC Questionnaire in order to prepare an opinion on Serbia’s EU membership, has begun today and will last until 18 March.

The statement adds that EC experts and representatives from relevant state institutions will discuss the protection of human and minority rights in Serbia, primarily political, civilian, economic and social rights and the policy of combating discrimination against minorities. Another topic will be control of the Serbian prison system.

Meetings will be held with representatives from all relevant institutions and organisations of the civilian society dealing with the abovementioned issues.

European Commission experts will talk with the ombudsman, commissioner for information of public importance and personal data protection, representatives from the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, Ministry of Education, Public Prosecutor’s Office, Business Registers Agency and Office for Cooperation with the NGO Sector.

They will also talk with judges from the Constitutional Court, commissioner for the protection of equality, representatives from the Gender Equality Administration, representatives from relevant organisations of the civilian society, social care centres, Economic and Social Council, relevant parliamentary committees and local and national minority communities.

European Commission experts will also visit police stations and prisons in Serbia.

The Questionnaire is an official instrument with which the EU assesses the readiness of a country to initiate accession process. Based on the responses which Serbia submitted on 31 January and assessments of expert missions, the European Commission will draft its opinion on whether the country is ready to be granted candidate status and enter the third stage in which a framework date for starting accession talks can be determined.