At a meeting held yesterday, the Government of the Republic of Serbia approved the second revised version of the National Programme for the Adoption of the EU Acquis (NPAA) and tasked the European Integration Office to submit quarterly reports to the Government on its implementation.This document presents a detailed plan for harmonising the legal and institutional framework with the acquis communautaire and an overview of measures and activities for achieving full compliance with all the rights and obligations arising from the acquis.
The second revision of the NPAA was organised after the completion of the screening process, detailed familiarisation with the most important parts of the acquis communautaire and consideration of the current state of play and possible challenges in terms of achieving full alignment of national legislation with EU regulations.Starting with the set aim of the Republic of Serbia to be fully prepared to undertake the obligations of EU membership by the end of 2018 (taking into account the indicative objective related to the moment of accession − 2021), it is envisaged that the implementation of the revised NPAA covers the period up to 31 December 2018.
The NPAA also forms the basis for the preparation of negotiating positions for the chapters which have not already been submitted to the EU because one of the objectives of this document is also to reflect all the requirements and results of the negotiation process and to allow monitoring of the obligations undertaken within the chapters during the negotiations.In line with the experience of other candidate countries for EU membership, the NPAA is also one of the indicators of progress in terms of closing the chapters.
According to needs, the NPAA, will also be revised in the future taking into account steps achieved during the accession negotiations, as well as the development of the acquis in the EU, which every candidate country is obliged to accept in the form existing at the time of accession.
The NPAA defines development and strategic objectives, appropriate policies, reforms and measures necessary for the achievement of these objectives, establishes a detailed plan for the harmonisation of legislation. The NPAA sets out not only obligations relating to the transposition of the EU law into the national legal system, but also tasks that must be implemented in order to meet political and economic criteria for EU accession (Copenhagen criteria from 1993 and Madrid criteria from 1995).On the one hand, the NPAA defines development and strategic objectives, and on the other, policies, reforms and measures necessary for the implementation of these objectives.It also establishes a detailed plan, timeframe and priorities for the adoption of regulations and designates institutions responsible for their preparation.
The second revised version National Programme for Adoption of the EU Acquis (NPAA) in the Serbian language can be downloaded here.
