The Council of the European Union welcomes the high level of preparedness and engagement demonstrated so far by the Serbian Government in the process of accession negotiations but urged Belgrade to maintain an active and constructive engagement in the normalisation process with Kosovo, a statement issued after the Council’s meeting said. EU has opened four new chapters in accession talks to Montenegro, bringing to 16 out of 35 number of sections open and confirming Podgorica’s leading position on the path towards EU membership.
“Serbia needs to maintain an active and constructive engagement in the normalisation process with Kosovo, which has seen significant progress,” the statement said.
The Council “will continue to monitor closely Serbia’s continued engagement towards visible and sustainable progress in the normalisation of relations with Kosovo, including the implementation in good faith of all agreements reached so far.”
“The Council recalls that progress in the process of normalising relations with Kosovo under chapter 35 needs to be made in parallel with progress in negotiations overall,” it said.
“Chapter 35 should be tackled early in and throughout the negotiations,” the council said, adding that it would “provide a solid framework for monitoring implementation of agreements reached.”
The Council welcomed “the progress made by Serbia in the past year, including in public administration reform, judicial reform and the fight against corruption and organised crime.”
It also noted “with satisfaction Serbia’s ambitious programme of economic and structural reforms and its active involvement in further developing regional cooperation, including to promote economic development and law enforcement in the region.”
However, the Council encouraged Serbia to “further intensify its reform process. In particular, continued strong efforts are needed to ensure an effective, independent judiciary and to build up a track record in the fight against corruption and organised crime.”
“Particular attention needs to be paid to the full respect of fundamental rights, including protection of the most vulnerable groups, particularly the Roma, as well as to the effective implementation of legislation on the protection of minorities,” it added.
It also noted “concerns about deteriorating conditions for the full exercise of freedom of expression.”
The EU has opened four new chapters in accession talks with Montenegro. It continued criticising lack of rule of law in Turkey and the Balkans region.
The Montenegro decision was taken at an intergovernmental meeting in Brussels on 16 December and covers chapters on: statistics; consumer and health protection; customs union; and financial and budgetary affairs.
It brings to 16 out of 35 the number of sections now open and confirms Montenegro’s leading position in the region in terms of EU membership progress.
More at http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/genaff/146326.pdf
