A two-day meeting of the Joint Committee between Montenegro and the Republic of Serbia in the context of EU accession ended earlier today in Podgorica.
The meeting was chaired by Director-General for European Affairs Snežana Radović and Serbia’s acting Director of the European Integration Office Ksenija Milenković. The two officials welcomed the establishment of this body and underlined the importance of Western Balkans’ countries cooperation for their progress in the EU negotiation process.
The first meeting discussed the achievements and further cooperation of the two countries in EU accession, and the two sides exchanged opinions and experience on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) implementation and alignment with the EU acquis communautaire. The negotiating groups’ members presented the two countries’ state of affairs and best practices in the negotiation process in Chapter 1: Free movement of goods, and Chapter 27: Environment.
The Montenegrin side presented its negotiation process, focusing on results and further plans and commitments. MFAEI representatives presented the structure for implementing the SAA and noted the importance of close and good cooperation with the Parliament’s Committee on European Integration, as well as with the civil society, which is an active participant in the EU accession process and an added value to Montenegro’s negotiating model. They also presented activities related to the process of legal harmonisation with the acquis, as well as implementing the Programme of Accession of Montenegro to the EU.
Representatives of Serbia underlined the importance of maintaining the good dynamics of the accession process, voicing their expectation that Serbia will open its first chapters by the end of the year. In that sense they made an overview of the hitherto development of the negotiation process in Serbia and highlighted the framework of involving the non-governmental sector in the negotiation process through the concept of Convent, which enables for full consideration of civil society recommendations throughout the process. They reiterated the importance of regional cooperation as a generator of growth and in that context they highlighted the importance of planning and implementing projects of regional importance.
In the context of discussing the current state of affairs in Chapter 1: Free movement of goods, the Montenegrin side presented its activities on drafting the key documents in this area, such as the Strategy for implementing the acquis in the area of free movement of goods 2014-2018 and the adjacent Action Plan, as well as the draft Strategy on the free movement of goods.
In discussing Chapter 27: Environment, the Montenegrin side presented the process of drafting the Comprehensive strategy and action plan for full harmonisation and implementation of EU acquis, and highlighted its legislative activity in this area.
Both sides agreed that the meeting was a good opportunity to sum up the achievements by exchanging information and experience and discussing upcoming challenges and commitments. In that light, they exchanged opinions on shared needs in the negotiation process and discussed the possibility to boost cooperation in various chapters and areas of the acquis.
Bearing in mind the fact that Montenegro is the first country to negotiate on the basis of the new approach, and the country that has made the most progress in EU integration, full institutional readiness was noted to share the accumulated knowledge and experience from the negotiation process and put it at the disposal of Serbia and other countries from the region.
