Members of the Committee on EU enlargement of the Council of European Union (COELA) visited Serbia on 10-12 September 2014, at the proposal of Italy as the EU presiding country. The delegation had separate meetings with President of the Republic of Serbia Tomislav Nikolic, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic, Minister of Interior Nebojsa Stefanovic, Minister of Justice Nikola Selakovic, Minister of Finance Dusan Vujovic, Minister without portfolio responsible for European integration Jadranka Joksimovic, Head of the Negotiating Team for EU Accession Tanja Miscevic, Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Gordana Comic and Chairman of the European Integration Committee Aleksandar Senic.
During his meeting with members of COELA, President of the Republic of Serbia Tomislav Nikolic pointed out that full EU membership is the first Serbian government’s priority. He stressed that we are very dedicated to this goal and committed to fininshing negotiations by 2018. He said that Serbia is dedicated to the conducting of reforms in all areas, especially in the fileds of rule of law, internal affairs, protection of human and minority rights. President Nikolic pointed out that EU membership perspective had a positive affect on the Balkans, where cooperation has been established within concrete project and where all open issues are being resolved only by dialogue.
First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic informed members of COELA about the reform and legislative activities carried out in Serbia. He said he expects the European Union to recognize and acknowledge the efforts made by our side in the EU integration process and allow it to open the first chapters in accession talks by the end of 2014. Dačić said that the screening conducted so far has been described as successful, noting that the screening process is completed for 14 and still underway for 7 EU acquis chapters, so Serbia has thus demonstrated that it possesses adequate administrative capacities.
Minister without Portfolio responsible for European integration Jadranka Joksimovic presented to representatives of the COELA the priorities of the Serbian government in achieving the foreign policy strategic goal to harmonise its domestic legislation with that of the EU by the end of 2018. She stressed that this is a realistic goal based on the implementation of the contractual obligations arising from the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, as well as on a comprehensive reform process which the goverenment pursues. Joksimovic pointed out that the EU enlargement is in mutual interest and the policy in which everyone wins.