Tanja Miščević, the Serbian Minister for European Integration, Gert Jan Koopman, Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) and Vladimir Bilčik, Member of the European Parliament spoke about the European integration process.
The panel discussion "Yes, but...: The vision of Serbia's future in the EU” organized by EURACTIV Serbia, was held in Brussels on Tuesday, July 4. Many guests, including representatives of the European Commission, members of the European Parliament, ambassadors, as well as members of the non-governmental sector, were a testament to the great attention that the panel attracted.
After the opening address of the Republic of Serbia’s Prime Minister, Ana Brnabić, and her interview, the panel discussion began with the participation Tanja Miščević, the Serbian Minister for European Integration, Gert Jan Koopman, Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) and Vladimir Bilčik, MEP and EP’s rapporteur for Serbia.
"The EU enlargement is relevant again and there is a historic opportunity that the countries of the region should take advantage of. The president (Ursula von der Leyen, editor's note) presented an enlargement plan that we did not discuss much, but we should discuss it because it is very important also in light of the economic situation. There is no better time to discuss the challenges of enlargement", Koopman said at the start of the panel.
Bilčik agreed.
"Enlargement is on our agenda and we treat it very seriously. The mood throughout the European Union has changed and Russian aggression in Ukraine has changed everything. Since last year we have had three new accession candidates - Ukraine, Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The key here will be reforms and alignment, not only in terms of sanctions, but alignment of policies and, of course, dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina," said Bilčik.
Next, Minister Miščević commented on the panelists’ statements.
"It's a good thing that the enlargement has become relevant again, but we waited for this for 20 years. We are not the same after 20 years. We are ready to complete the process of the European Union accession, with an emphasis on the process itself and the rule of law", said Miščević and then answered a question from the audience on how Serbia has evolved on its way to the EU membership:
"There are always two elements that prove progress in terms of the accession process of any country. One is the progress made in reforms, which implies not only what we have done in terms of adopting laws that are aligned with the EU’s, but also what we have done in terms of capacity building for implementation of those laws. There is also another level on our accession path – that is monitoring everything we have achieved, i.e. which results did those laws and institutions that implement EU regulations achieve. Another element for evaluating Serbia's accession is the number of open clusters and especially the number of closed chapters. The latter is an area in which none of the Western Balkan countries has excelled – Serbia closed two chapters and Montenegro closed three. The closing of the chapters is yet to come, following the new methodology. Of course, there are clear tasks related to accession, on the way to the membership, and one of them is the rule of law as the most important element, as well as alignment with foreign security policy, which is also very important," the Minister explained.
"Society is the one that chooses to become an EU member. We need to hear this in Belgrade as well," continued Koopman.
One of the questions that came up during the panel was how to overcome the "Yes, but...".
"We have to have real engagement. Looking back at the last 10 years, expansion was on the “Yes” side. In the last 12 to 16 months, there have been more opportunities to join. This doesn't happen every year. We've always had ups and downs in enlargement, but it has become relevant again. Serbia has a problem with public opinion. I partially agree with Tanja Miščević - the process is ongoing and many, including regional politicians, have lost confidence that the accession will happen. That belief should be restored and we need the public’s support because, without it, important reforms will not be implemented. Much has been done in terms of judicial reforms, but there is still work to be done on their implementation, as well as on media, energy, structural reforms and alignment with foreign policy. While looking in the direction of the European future, we should also look back at the past, which is not European. For all this, we need true engagement and conversation not only in Brussels but also in all of Serbia", explained Bilčik.
You can watch the video recording of the entire panel discussion here:
(Kurir.rs/Euractiv.rs)
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