A meeting of the Operational Team for Serbia’s accession to the European Union was held today at the Government of the Republic of Serbia, chaired by Ambassador Danijel Apostolović, Head of the Mission of the Republic of Serbia to the EU, Head of this Team and Chief Negotiator.
The meeting was attended by President of the National Assembly Ana Brnabić, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Siniša Mali, Minister of Justice Nenad Vujić, Secretary-General of the Government Petar Janjić, Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petar Petković, Acting Secretary of the Ministry of Interior Veljko Odalović, Adviser to the Prime Minister Nemanja Diković, as well as deputy members of the Operational Team.
Ambassador Apostolović reported on the meeting he held, in his capacity as Chief Negotiator, with representatives of the negotiating groups, at which an overview of the situation in each individual chapter was presented, along with key activities for the upcoming period, as well as any potential challenges that need to be overcome in specific areas. Apostolović emphasised that all actors in the accession negotiation process had to bear their share of responsibility for achieving results and implementing key reforms, which would be monitored even more intensively on a regular basis. He also stressed the necessity of implementing all obligations from the Reform Agenda within the framework of the EU Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, on which the disbursement of significant funds depended. The Head of the Operational Team also announced further bilateral meetings with representatives of relevant institutions, as well as the establishment of additional interdepartmental working groups, in order to ensure more efficient implementation of obligations and fulfilment of the membership criteria.
President of the National Assembly Ana Brnabić provided a detailed update on the work related to the implementation of ODIHR recommendations, while Minister of Finance Siniša Mali presented an overview of the situation in the chapters within his remit. He paid particular attention to meeting the benchmarks for opening Cluster 2 (Internal Market), especially legislative activities within the scope of Chapter 8 (Competition policy). In addition, Minister of Justice Nenad Vujić and Acting Secretary of the Ministry of Interior Veljko Odalović informed participants about the steps that had been taken to meet the interim benchmarks for Chapters 23 and 24, in line with the key activity plans that had been agreed with the European Commission.
Further detailed discussions were held on the implementation of the Reform Agenda, preparations for meeting the criteria for Serbia’s inclusion in the “Roam Like at Home” regime once agreement at EU level is reached, administrative capacities for tasks related to Serbia’s European integration, and other related issues.
As every Monday, the next regular meeting of the Operational Team will be held on 6 April, this time in the form of a video conference.
