The sitting was opened by Committee Chairman Aleksandar Senic who said this was the first sitting of the European Integration Committee held outside of the National Assembly headquarters. The sitting was organised via project Strengthening the Oversight Role and Transparency of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, jointly realised by the National Assembly and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)/ Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
The Committee members and the other participants were welcomed by MP and President of the Topola Municipal Assembly Dragan Jovanovic. He presented the municipality’s main economic branches, stressing that Topola is primarily an agricultural municipality dominated by fruit farming. He explained that Topola exports 90% of its products onto the Russian market. Dragan Jovanovic also highlighted the importance of IPA funds, saying that Topola is currently the site of three European projects.
Darko Jaksic, representative of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection, presented the key information on chapters 11 and 12 stressing that the integration of the domestic agriculture into the EU single market calls for reform. Jaksic said that the 2012 census, financed by the EU, yielded real data on the state of agriculture in Serbia.
The Committee members were also addressed by Sanja Mesanovic of the European Integration Office who explained the EU negotiations process and drafting of action plans.
The sitting was attended by Slovenian Ambassador to Serbia and former member of the Slovenian negotiation team Franc But who used his country’s experience to present basic guidelines and suggestions for the EU talks. Franc But also spoke of the importance of including local self-governments into the negotiations process, adding that 40% of the EU talks concern agriculture and food safety.
The participants of the sitting, among them representatives of the non-governmental sector, discussed agricultural subsidies and environmental protection mechanisms, restitution and leasing of state-owned land, while the Ministry and European Integration Office representatives were asked about the problems of farmers involved in beekeeping and hunting.