Minister of European Integration Jadranka Joksimović has stated today that the European Commission Progress Report did not record backsliding in any chapter, while no progress was noted in three, limited progress in five, some progress in almost 20 and good progress in four chapters.
At the session of the European Integration Parliamentary Committee, Joksimović has said that progress is measured through descriptive assessments that indicate whether progress in sector areas has been achieved.
According to her, three chapters were assessed as achieving no progress: Chapter 3 - Right of establishment and freedom to provide services; Chapter 5 - Public procurement and Chapter 8 - Competition policy.
The descriptive assessment ‘limited progress’ was used to evaluate Chapter 1 - Free movement of goods, Chapter 13 - Fisheries, Chapter 15 - Energy, Chapter 23 - Judiciary and fundamental rights and Chapter 27 - Environment.
Joksimović has said that some progress, which is a moderate level of preparation for membership was reported in almost 20 chapters: Chapter 2 - Freedom of movement for workers, Chapter 6 - Company law, Chapter 7 - Intellectual property law, Chapter 9 - Financial Services, Chapter 10 - Information society and media, Chapter 12 - Food safety, veterinary phytosanitary policy, Chapter 16 - Taxation, Chapter 17 - Economic and monetary policy.
Furthermore, limited progress was reported in Chapter 18 - Statistics, Chapter 19 - Social policy and employment, Chapter 20 - Enterprise and industrial policy, Chapter 21 - Trans-European networks, Chapter 22 - Regional policy and coordination of structural instruments, Chapter 24 - Justice, freedom and security, Chapter 25 - Science and research, Chapter 28 - Consumer and health protection, Chapter 29 - Customs union, Chapter 30 - External relations, Chapter 31 - Foreign, security and defence policy , Chapter 32 - Financial control and Chapter 33 - Financial and budgetary provisions.
Good progress, stated Joksimović, which is one of the highest levels of descriptive assessment, was reported in four chapters: Chapter 4 - Free movement of capital, Chapter 11 - Agriculture and rural development, Chapter 14 - Transport policy and Chapter 26 - Education and culture.
“For now, there are no chapters with the descriptive assessment ‘very good progress’, which would indicate the level of full preparation, and that is normal at this stage of the negotiation process”, said the Minister, adding that statistical data on chapter assessment is significant.
“I believe that this is crucial, as this shows that there is substantial reform progress in almost all sector policies that Serbia is negotiating on.”
She has pointed out that it is implied that the focus is on chapters 23 and 24, as these, in her words, are suspensive chapters whose progress measures the possibility of opening new chapters.
She has recalled that Serbia was the first country to which the new EU methodology had been applied, which means that chapters 23 and 24 are opened at the earliest stage of the negotiations, at the very beginning, and closed at the very end.
According to her, positive assessment was given in the area of regional cooperation and good neighbourly relations, as usual, which is one of the criteria for measuring the preparedness and accountability of a state to participate in international and regional relations and contribute to peace and stability.
“We received particularly good assessments in the field of economy, which confirms the success of the economic reforms that the Government has been implementing, and we also received a particularly good assessment for Chapter 24 in the area of migration. We also received a good assessment regarding minorities’ protection”, said Joksimović.
As for the assessment that there was no progress in the area of media freedom, Joksimović has expressed her stance that this was more of a political assessment that should not convey a message that everything carried out so far is not sufficient.
“Of course, it is not sufficient and the job is not done, however, more achievements should have been noted. “It is my opinion that this issue has not been observed in its entirety”, said the Minister, adding that Serbia received the same assessment regarding media freedom last year, but that it did not decisively speak out or express its discontent, but rather accepted it as objective.
Joksimović has stated that progress has been noted in the fight against corruption, adding that, nevertheless, all the efforts the state exerted have not been recognised.
“The fact is that the fight against corruption is an ongoing process, but, in this Report, these efforts were not fully recognised. We are applying a zero tolerance policy towards corruption,” said Joksimović.
Concerning the Report’s assessment of the Brussels Agreement, Joksimović has stated that, as regards the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Belgrade’s constructiveness was noted, as was the fact that the introduction of taxes by Pristina has obstructed the dialogue.
Joksimović has expressed her belief that clear condemnation of Pristina for the introduction of unilateral taxes was lacking.
“We have heard that the Report on so-called Kosovo includes a recommendation and request to eliminate these taxes, however, our report does not include such an observation, but in that case it is clear that Pristina is not only blocking the dialogue, but also doing everything in the recent period to block any chances of reaching a compromise”, said Joksimović.
She has indicated that the Report is overall positive, as progress has been noted in most areas, and that no backsliding has been recorded in any area.
“It is impossible for the Report to be worse than the previous one if progress was observed in the reporting period in most areas”, the Minister stressed, adding that the controversies that have recently appeared in the media suggesting that Serbia is in quarrel with the EU and that it has abandoned the European path are the result of comments and views of the Serbian side which did not fully agree with certain assessments.
“The fact is that we believed that some of the activities were not sufficiently noted in the Report. My working principle is that in a sincere partnership you can say what could have been done differently, where parties respect suggestions, and where we can also present our assessments, and that is the only way in which one can credibly represent the position of a candidate country”, concluded the Minister.
Source: Tanjug
