Ambassador Degert said that on 12 October the European Commission proposed that Serbia should be granted status of EU membership candidate and opined that our country would be ready to commence accession negotiations as soon as it achieved further progress in the dialogue with Pristina.

Therefore, Serbia faces no new conditions to gain EU candidacy status and be given a date for the commencement of negotiations, and the requisites relating to the normalisation of relations and continuation of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina are completely status neutral, stressed the Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia.

He deemed that in the previous years Serbia has achieved significant progress in meeting political criteria primarily relating to the stability of political institutions, establishment of the rule of law, respect of human and minority rights, in line with European and international standards. Thanks to the increased efficiency of the Government and Parliament some important laws have been passed such as the Law on Financing Political Activities, amendments and modifications to the Law on Election of Deputies, Law on Property Restitution and Compensation etc. He added that now it is important to make sure all the adopted laws are fully enforced.

Ambassador Degert stressed that Serbia has completed its cooperation with the International Court of Justice in The Hague, is actively participating in regional cooperation and contributes to the establishment of a lasting reconciliation in the region, adding that it has also achieved results in the fight against corruption and organised crime.

Degert said that the EC expects Serbia to achieve progress in the fields of inclusive development, freedom of the media, price control on the market and some other spheres.

The Committee members deemed that the European Commission Report is recognition of and stimulus to the reform forces and the public as it gives a positive estimate of what has been achieved so far.

Some of the Committee members opined that it should be clearly stated what Serbia needs to do by 9 December in order to gain the status of EU membership candidate. The Committee members from the Serbian Radical Party opined that Serbia’s place is not in the European Union which is clear from the public polls and that the EU would force the Government to recognise Kosovo in order to be granted a date for the commencement of negotiations.