Today, the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic received a delegation of the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, headed by the PACE co-rapporteur for Serbia Andreas Gross. The meeting was realised as part of the regular monitoring procedure implemented in Serbia so as to ascertain the level of fulfillment of the obligations stemming from Serbia’s membership in the Council of Europe.

In the meeting, both sides noted that the implementation of the amendments and modifications to the NARS Rules of Procedure of February last year has significantly improved the Parliament’s operation and that activities aimed at strengthening the efficiency of all the functions of the highest legislative body should be continued. The officials agreed that the highest state bodies need to come to agreement regarding the roadmap in order to complete the monitoring process by the end of 2010 or, possibly, the beginning of 2011.

Highlighting the work of the National Assembly’s task group on the new National Assembly Act, the Assembly Speaker informed the guests that the Act would create the conditions for the NA’s financial independence from the Government, and that the issue of deputy term of office ownership would be regulated by a specific legal document. In this context, the National Assembly Speaker applauded the involvement of the expert public in the public hearings on the new regulations, as well as the expert support offered by the Council of Europe.

The NARS Parliamentary delegation at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe shall take part in the January session in Strasbourg, from 25 to 29 January of this year.