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A:
Serbia expects positive opinion of EC in October
Belgrade,
21 May 2011
Director of the Serbian government’s EU Integration Office Milica Delevic voiced hope today that Serbia will get a positive opinion from the European Commission (EC) on its progress towards the EU on 12 October.
Milica Delevic
Author:
Tanjug
In an interview to Tanjug news agency, Delevic said it that will be known after that what will be further recommendations for our country in this process.
She underlined that the EC will primarily evaluate implementation of the reform process in the country for which it is important that reform laws get adopted, to which Serbia committed itself.
Their implementation is equally important, namely everything that is defined by the Copenhagen criteria, she said and added that cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) is a formal requirement and it will be important for the opinion of both the EC and the member states.
Noting that European integration is not an isolated process that takes place in a political vacuum, but in real time and world, Delevic pointed out that it is important to show the actual result.
We have to achieve this result within the deadline set by the EC, which is also set down in the Serbian government’s Action plan, and that is the end of June.
We should complete everything we can by then, and the things that are still in procedure at that moment should be terminated by the end of the summer, Delevic pointed out.
The dynamics of work of the EC is such that before summer they will make a draft opinion on Serbia’s application for membership, she explained, adding that this draft could be supplemented after the summer break with results achieved in the meantime.
Serbia has enough time to fulfil all the tasks, but they have to be almost finished before summer, Delevic reiterated. Otherwise, she warned, it may happen that the quantity of documents is so large that the EC simply cannot hold all the intersectoral consultations and give them appropriate attention.
Noting that the opinion of the EC which is expected on 12 October is not the end of the process of European integration for our country, Delevic pointed out that the Commission will give the opinion based on data available up to that moment.
The application of the laws adopted will remain in focus, as has been the case with every yearly report on Serbia’s progress, she added.
When we compare all these reports from 2007, 2008 and 2009, we see that the situation is slowly changing. Perhaps it does not change as fast as we would like, but it does change and the EC notices that, Delevic concluded.
She underlined that the EC will primarily evaluate implementation of the reform process in the country for which it is important that reform laws get adopted, to which Serbia committed itself.
Their implementation is equally important, namely everything that is defined by the Copenhagen criteria, she said and added that cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) is a formal requirement and it will be important for the opinion of both the EC and the member states.
Noting that European integration is not an isolated process that takes place in a political vacuum, but in real time and world, Delevic pointed out that it is important to show the actual result.
We have to achieve this result within the deadline set by the EC, which is also set down in the Serbian government’s Action plan, and that is the end of June.
We should complete everything we can by then, and the things that are still in procedure at that moment should be terminated by the end of the summer, Delevic pointed out.
The dynamics of work of the EC is such that before summer they will make a draft opinion on Serbia’s application for membership, she explained, adding that this draft could be supplemented after the summer break with results achieved in the meantime.
Serbia has enough time to fulfil all the tasks, but they have to be almost finished before summer, Delevic reiterated. Otherwise, she warned, it may happen that the quantity of documents is so large that the EC simply cannot hold all the intersectoral consultations and give them appropriate attention.
Noting that the opinion of the EC which is expected on 12 October is not the end of the process of European integration for our country, Delevic pointed out that the Commission will give the opinion based on data available up to that moment.
The application of the laws adopted will remain in focus, as has been the case with every yearly report on Serbia’s progress, she added.
When we compare all these reports from 2007, 2008 and 2009, we see that the situation is slowly changing. Perhaps it does not change as fast as we would like, but it does change and the EC notices that, Delevic concluded.
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