On 28 September 2006, members of the Committee on Inter-Ethnic Relations and the Local Self-Government Committee of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia met with Juergen Hermann, Rapporteur of the Legal Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The discussion focused on the adoption of the new constitution and new solutions proposed in the field of human and minority rights. Deputies informed Mr Hermann of the activities carried out thus far in preparing constitutional changes, and underlined that a full third of the Constitution was devoted to human and minority rights issues. They especially stressed the fact that no serious concerns had been voiced to the proposed constitutional definitions regarding human and minority rights, and that the least objections had been raised in these fields. The Charter on Human and Minority Rights, adopted three years ago, conformed to the highest European standards, and its fundamental principles will form part of the new Constitution, the meeting heard. It was also emphasised that European legislative solutions were used in drafting the new Constitution.

As for local self-government, it was said that decentralisation was proceeding apace, and that a law to regulate property owned by local self-government bodies had been proposed. The limitations to this present in the current Constitution are to be removed in the proposed one.

Juergen Hermann, visiting Serbia to prepare a report on national minorities in Vojvodina, expressed special interest in the position of minorities in the province and the establishment of co-operation between the National Assembly and the Vojvodina Assembly to solve common issues from the field. The talks concluded that inter-ethnic relations in Vojvodina had improved considerably over the past several years; as for co-operation with the provincial assembly, although concrete initiatives for its establishment have so far not been forthcoming, there was readiness to improve joint efforts in the future.