At the sitting held on 15 July, the European Integrations Committee discussed in principle the six Bills on the agenda for the Eleventh Extraordinary Session of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia. The sitting was chaired by Laszlo Varga, Committee Chairman.

The Committee considered the Culture Bill, the Bill amending and modifying the Law on Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions, Bill amending and modifying the Criminal Code, Bill on Public Health, Bill on Organ Transplantation, and Bill on the Bases of the System of Education and Upbringing.

Representatives of competent ministries elaborated the basic solutions contained within the laws, stressing that they are harmonised with European Union regulations, international conventions and directives pertaining to the relevant fields.

In his explanation of the new law, the representative of the Ministry of Culture stressed that it regulates all the areas of cultural efforts and improves the position of all employed in the field of culture, from the republican level to the level of local self-government.

The representative of the Ministry of Justice said that the proposed amendments to the Law on Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions are being adopted so as to achieve harmonisation with the Serbian Constitution and European legal standards in the field, primarily the European Prison Rules, containing the recommendations of the Council of Europe.

Also, the amendments and modifications to the Criminal Code are being proposed in order to harmonise it with the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, as well as various international conventions signed after it had come into force on January 1, 2006. The representative the Ministry of Justice stated that the Bill calls for more severe sentences for about a third of criminal offenses.

Explaining the Bill on Public Health, the representative of the Ministry of Health stressed that the law provides a unitary regulation of the field, replacing about 170 current regulations. In the case of the Bill on Organ Transplantation, the Ministry representative stated that it creates the necessary conditions for transplantation of human cells and tissues, in line with contemporary medical achievements.

The representative of the Ministry of Education stated that, for the first time, the Bill on the Bases of the System of Education and Upbringing provides regulation of the bases of the system of pre-school, elementary and secondary education and upbringing and legal support to the reform in the field of higher education.

The Committee members accepted these Bills in principle by a majority of votes, also giving some objections and suggestions.