The Serbian government’s EU integration office stated Tuesday that the European Commission (EC) has sent the last set of 629 additional questions which are to clarify the information that have been submitted in response to the EC questionnaire.
The Serbian government’s EU integration office stated Tuesday that the European Commission (EC) has sent the last set of 629 additional questions which are to clarify the information that have been submitted in response to the EC questionnaire.
The additional questions refer to political and economic criteria, justice system and basic rights, freedoms and security, and a joint foreign and security policy, the statement reads.
The additional questions delivered on March 25 are derived from the answers to the EU questionnaire submitted by the Serbian government on January 31, 2011, the office stated.
The questions are mostly related to previously submitted information which were distributed into negotiating chapters, although there is a certain number of new questions, the statement said.
The responses to the additional questions will be delivered to the EC before the third week of April that is Easter holidays, the statement reads.
The EC questionnaire is an EU instrument which is used in assessment of a country’s readiness to commence the EU accession process. Based on Serbia’s answers, assessments of the expert missions, and the results of the ongoing reforms, the EC will pass an opinion on the country’s readiness for the EU candidate status and commencement of the talks on the EU accession process.
The EC opinion is expected to be voiced on October 12, and the positive assessment of the EC needs to be unanimously supported by all EU members, the office underlined.
Malovic: Judiciary reform is not in EC focus any more
Serbian Justice Minister Snezana Malovic confirmed on Tuesday that the European Commission has sent additional questions to the Justice Ministry regarding its response to the EC questionnaire, and added that none of the additionally submitted questions refers to judiciary reform.
“It is true that no additional questions refer to judiciary reform and general election of judges and prosecutors, which in itself serves as a testimony of the seriousness we exhibited in our approach to resolving all open issues,” Malovic told Tanjug at the Faculty of Law in Nis, southern Serbia.
In the additional questions, European partners requested more information as to the functioning of certain institutions, and the majority of these questions refer to the cooperation between the Interior Ministry and the Prosecutor’s Office and the fight against crime and corruption.
Malovic added that her meetings with EC representatives were constructive, especially her Tuesday meeting with EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele.
She pointed out that as the minister of justice and member of the State Prosecutors Council and High Judicial Council, she is very pleased to see that the issue of general appointment of judges and prosecutors is no longer in EC’s focus and that both the EC and Serbian citizens have come to look upon the judiciary sector as a valuable partner in negotiations.
Source emg.rs
