Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina today hosted the third meeting of the Joint Consultative Committee between Serbia and the EU’s Committee of the Regions. On that occasion, Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Sem Fabrizi said he hoped Serbia would open another eight negotiating chapters by the year’s end.
Fabrizi said the Committee of the Regions was among the most important EU institutions and underlined the significance of the conference and participation of local self-governments in all processes conducted by the Union, saying that virtually 70% of the EU acquis is implemented at the local level.
“Financial and other forms of EU assistance, provided through pre-accession funds in order to facilitate the process of accession, are equally important,” Fabrizi said.
One of the sessions touched upon examples of good practice and the ways to adequately prepare the local and provincial level for forthcoming negotiation activities, whereas another dealt with minority rights at the subnational level, reads a statement from the Assembly of Vojvodina.
President of the Provincial Government Igor Mirovic said that the Province was engaged in the negotiating process, stressing the importance of participation in chapters dealing with regional cooperation and development, agriculture and environmental protection. He reiterated that a membership in the EU was a national priority, adding that one of the main objectives of that process is to engage regional authorities.
Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government Branko Ruzic said that the aim of public administration reform at both central and local level was to incorporate principles and standards of service provision into the system in order to achieve the efficiency of administration of the EU.
Speaker of the Vojvodina Assembly Istvan Pastor said that the pace of Serbia’s EU accession depended “on us.”
