In an interview with national broadcasting service RTS, Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Ambassador Michael Davenport said he stood ready to return to the National Assembly of Serbia, present the 2016 Annual European Commission Report on Serbia and hear the law-makers’ opinion.
For over a decade, it has been a practice for the European Integration Committee of the National Assembly to invite the EU Delegation to discuss the EC’s Report with parliamentarians immediately upon its adoption.
This year, MPs of the Serbian Radical Party and the Movement Dveri heckled EU Ambassador Michael Davenport when he tried to present the 2016 European Commission’s Report on Serbia. The session was cancelled as the MPs of said parties protested Ambassador’s presence and threw insults at him.
Appearing in RTS news programme Dnevnik, Davenport said he had sent an official letter to the National Assembly Speaker Maja Gojkovic informing her of what had happened during the session of the European Integration Parliamentary Committee.
“I made it clear that I am ready to return to the Assembly at her invitation and continue a meaningful discussion,” Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia said and noted that certain conditions must be met for such a discussion to take place.
Davenport: “I welcome any opportunity for opinion exchange”
Parliament has its role in any democracy, he said and added that the role of Serbian Parliament was of particular importance in the entire process of EU accession.
“I therefore welcome any opportunity for opinion exchange. As the Serbian translation of the Report requires a few more days of intensive work, the Committee invited me to discuss the Report as has been the practice in previous years. The Committee invited me to present the key findings of the Report, right after I handed it to Prime Minister,” Davenport said and added that he prepared the presentation in Serbian.
He said that the EU Delegation wanted to hear law-makers’ opinion and reiterated that he, like all of his predecessors, stood ready to engage in the discussion.
“I thanked the Assembly for the invitation. I deeply respect the impact the Parliament has on all aspects of life, European integration in particular,” Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia said.
Commenting on MPs remarks that it made no sense for a Briton to tell them to join the Union, Davenport said that apart from being a Briton, he was also a citizen of the EU. ”
“The United Kingdom remains a member of the EU, with all the rights and obligations of the membership. I will continue to do the work of an accredited EU ambassador just as any other Briton in the EU,” Davenport said.
Davenport: “I expect the chapter on public procurement to open soon”
Speaking about the opening of new chapters, Davenport said he expected chapter 5 (public procurement) to open soon and reminded that the European Commission had already made a recommendation on the matter.
“The decision now rests with the Member States. I expect Serbia to submit its negotiating position on the remaining 15 chapters,” Davenport said and expressed hope that chapter 5 would be opened in December because, as he put it, “we have to move forward.”
The Report specifically noted the importance of securing stable funding of the Public Broadcasting Service, Head of the EU Delegation said and added that, as the backbone of the media system, it required a stable source of funding.
Speaking about the 2016 European Commission Report, Davenport said the Report was above all impartial and made constructive and specific recommendations.
“The Report commended the progress Serbia has made in the opening of four negotiating chapters. Also, it welcomed the efforts Serbia has made regarding the modernisation of public administration and implementation of ambitious reform agenda,” Davenport said.
He believes the focus should now be put on recommendations, especially those concerning justice efficiency, environmental protection and acting on recommendations concerning the work of independent regulatory agencies.
Joksimovic: Behaviour of certain MPs utterly unacceptable
“As a Minister in charge of European integration, I deem the behaviour of certain MPs displayed at the Assembly during the meeting of the European Integration Committee utterly unacceptable and politically incorrect,” Minister in charge of European integration Jadranka Joksimovic said.
Reacting to the behaviour of certain MPs towards Ambassador Davenport, Joksimovic stressed he was the Head of the EU Mission to Serbia, and added that she was convinced that those same MPs would not approve of anyone else treating Serbian ambassadors the way they had treated the Ambassador of the EU.
Minister Joksimovic reminded that Serbia was strategically oriented toward the EU and that the largely positive 2016 Report was important for the country.
“It should therefore be subject to a thorough analysis by the highest legislative body in Serbia,” Minister Joksimovic said.
“Expressing anti-European sentiment is a legitimate position, but it does not mean that acting inappropriately and violating the right and the obligation of the Assembly to do its job and analyse the Report falls within the boundaries of legitimate behaviour,” the Minister said.
As regards the Ambassador Michael Davenport, Joksimovic stressed he was the Head of EU Mission to Serbia and added that she was convinced that those same MPs would not approve of anyone else treating Serbian ambassadors the way they had treated the Ambassador of the EU.
